The DRC’s 2020 household survey reveals how VAT shapes everyday life–and fairness. Introduced in 2012, VAT offers stable revenue, yet multiple rates and exemptions mostly benefit higher-income households. Tax expenditures cost about 0.82% of GDP, exceeding social safety net spending. Poor families devote more to taxed essentials: about 41% of their spending faces the 16%…
The SARS VAT system has not been substantially upgraded in over a decade. Two years after the South African Revenue Service (SARS) began work to modernise the value-added tax (VAT) system, the agency is preparing to release a consultation paper “in due course”. This follows National Treasury’s mid-August tabling of the 2025 Draft Tax Administration…
Cash-strapped public broadcaster the SABC has proposed applying to national treasury for a VAT exemption on TV licence fees in an effort to boost its finances. According to a report by News24 (paywall) on Monday, approval of the exemption will not decrease the amount people pay for their TV licence, as the SABC will keep…
