GOVERNMENT will in the 2019/20 financial year again increase excise duties on alcohol and tobacco in an effort to raise much-needed revenue for the national fiscus, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said on Wednesday.
According to the National Treasury’s 2019 Budget Review report, the adjustments will lead to an excise burden slightly above the targeted levels.
Delivering his budget, Mboweni said with a 12 cents increase, there will now be a R1.74 excise duty increase on a can of beer.
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Other increases include:
A 750ml bottle of wine will have an excise duty of R3.15, which is 22 cents more;
The duty on a 750ml bottle of sparkling wine goes up by 84 cents to R10.16;
The duty on a bottle of whiskey will go up by R4.54 to R65.84;
A pack of 20 cigarettes goes up by R1.14 cents to R16.66; and
The excise duty on a typical cigar will go up by about 64 cents to R7.80.
There will be no change to the excise duty on sorghum beer, the Minister said.
Mboweni in his speech also announced that fuel levies will increase by 29 cents per litre for petrol and 30 cents per litre for diesel.
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South Africa has three main fuel taxes that apply to petrol, diesel and biodiesel: the general fuel levy, the customs and excise levy and the RAF levy. From 5 June 2019, a carbon tax of 9c/litre on petrol and 10c/litre on diesel will become effective.
“These levies fund general government expenditure, support environmental goals and finance the RAF.
Diesel refunds cannot be claimed against this tax. The general fuel levy will be increased by 15c/litre for petrol and diesel from 3 April 2019. The increase is slightly below inflation. Government also proposes to increase the RAF levy by 5c/litre from 3 April 2019,” the 2019 Budget Review reports reads.
According to Mboweni, the Road Accident Fund levy increase is not enough to match the Fund’s R215 billion liability.
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