2007/8 Budget Opinion

There needs to be an upward adjustment in moral standards of all citizens and this is where in our view the funds must be allocated to. OPINION ON 2007/8 BUDGET A good budget and relief to some taxpayers were made possible by a surplus in revenue in the 2006/7 fiscal years. Relief included the following: Personal tax cuts across the board through upward adjustments to all income brackets; Threshold of taxpayers under 65 years of age increased from R40,000 to R43,000 and for those 65 and older from R65,000 to R69,000; Primary rebates are increased from R4,500 to R4,650 for taxpayers under 65 and from R7,200 to R7,740 for taxpayers over 65; Tax free interest raised from R16,500 to R18,000 for taxpayers under 65 and from R24,500 to R26,000 for taxpayers over 65; Exclusion of capital gains increased from R12,500 to R15,000; The monthly monetary caps for taxfree medical aid contributions will increase from R500 to R530 for the first two members and R300 to R320 for each additional beneficiary; Oldage pensions, disability and caredependency grants increase by R50 a month, to a maximum of R870; Childsupport grants by R10 to R200 a month while fostercare grants to R620; In order to give more certainty when selling securities an objective test was proposed. Any gain realised on the sale of shares after three years would be classified as a capital profit for the purpose of capital gains tax. Business Gains from the replacement of secondary tax on companies with a dividend tax at a reduced rate of 10%, down from 12,5%. Unfortunately no details are available; The budget proposals contain further relaxation of exchange controls. The requirement that South African companies obtain a majority shareholding in foreign entities or projects outside of Africa is abolished, and they now have to obtain only a 25% shareholding; A tax allowance for the economic wear and tear of new or upgraded commercial buildings with a 20year writeoff period will also be implemented. The Department of Housing Has been allocated R32billion over the next three years in an attempt to reduce significant backlogs and fasttrack housing delivery. While this grant may create extra employment opportunities, experience has shown that the spending of the funds is not all together efficiently handled. Crime: An additional R2,4billion in 2007/08 will go to expanding police numbers and investment in technology and forensic equipment. The Minister of Finance said that close on 190 000 police officers will be on the streets by 2010, and electronic fingerprinting and dockets will become the norm. There is a difference between fighting crime that has occurred and preventing crime from happening. In our view it should not be the duty of the police to prevent crime. It matters not how much money is thrown at the police department because the cause of crime must be seriously addressed. There need to be an upward adjustment in moral standards of all citizens and this is where in our view the funds must be allocated to. Rather spend money on creating a plan to uplift moral standards and the common respect for human life. It is one thing to hijack persons motor vehicle or rob a farmer on his farm but why kill the victims in the process Recommend this article...

 

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