Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana is set to deliver the highly anticipated budget speech for 2022/2023. Godongwana will be presenting his very first budget speech on Wednesday 23 February 2022.
All eyes are on the minister as he is expected to give out the government’s spending framework for the next three years. As the budget speech gets closer, the demands intensify from all around.
Informal businesses strive for assistance after being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the unrest that occurred in July 2021. The minister is anticipated to facilitate the payment of relief funds.
Small businesses play a fundamental role in South Africa’s employment sector. The government is expected to allocate funds that will specifically be directed towards the localizing of production operations that will uplift the manufacturing profits and will in turn expand job creation.
Loss of employment is another factor that the minister must put emphasis on when he delivers his speech as unemployment is currently the biggest challenge that South Africa is facing and has a severe impact on income and value-added tax.
Both taxes contribute immensely on the South African tax base. Godongwana’s focus area regarding employment has to include a strategy to tackle the high unemployment rate, ways to expand income support, and enhance public services.
With all these highlighted, Godongwana should maintain a tax policy environment that will uplift a broad-based economic growth that will not weigh heavily on a particular collection of taxpayers. There are many predictions around Godongwana’s speech. However, the entire nation is crossing fingers that there won’t be major increases to taxation.
