Public invited to comment on tax matters

Taxpayers, tax practitioners and the public are invited to submit any technical proposals to improve or correct current tax legislation, including the closing of loopholes as well as addressing unintended anomalies.

Proposals received will be considered for possible inclusion in Annexure C of the 2016 Budget Review.

“The Minister of Finance generally only makes tax announcements in his Budget speech. The Budget Review provides more details, including on other matters for the upcoming tax legislation. Major tax proposals are contained in one of the chapters (normally Chapter 4), and minor or miscellaneous proposals are generally contained in an annexure called Annexure C of the Budget Review,” said National Treasury on Monday.

Treasury said the proposals requested in this invitation are for Annexure C only and not for any major tax proposals. Hence they must be limited to unintended anomalies, loopholes and technical matters requiring correction in existing tax legislation.

Any other correspondence on a tax policy matter or major tax proposal should be addressed (under a separate cover) to Mr Ismail Momoniat, Deputy Director General: Tax and Financial Sector Policy; email: ismail.momoniat@treasury.gov.za.

In terms of the criteria, proposed Annexure C changes must fit within the current tax policy framework.

National Treasury said Annexure C type proposals are not intended to have a significant revenue impact.

“We request that only issues that are of main concern and priority should be submitted. Please keep submissions brief and limit to a few key issues. Only critical matters will be considered.”

Annexure C proposals should be submitted by no later than 30 November 2015.

“To facilitate the review process, workshops are planned on 8 and 9 December 2015 to clarify issues raised in the written submissions and assist in the prioritisation of issues,” said Treasury.

Upon completion, recommendations for Annexure C will be submitted to the Minister of Finance for his consideration. Major proposals received will not be the subject of discussion at these workshops.

“It should be noted that the mere discussion of proposals received before the Budget is no guarantee that the proposals discussed will eventually be included in the Budget Review. The final decision to include proposals is the prerogative of the Minister,” said Treasury.

Written submissions must be sent to Nombasa Nkumanda at nombasa.nkumanda@treasury.gov.za and Adele Collins at acollins@sars.gov.za. – SAnews.gov.za