College of Accounting Sciences

Lifelong learning opportunities for accountancy professionals

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South Africa is a developing country with high levels of inequality (Keeton, 2014:26). The OECD (2015:16) states that the receipt of enough tax revenue by government is an absolute necessity in many developing countries as these countries often struggle to alleviate poverty, demonstrate high levels of inequality, have poor delivery of public services and have trouble to build their own infrastructure. It follows that fiscal authorities in South Africa require enough sustainable revenue to balance the basic needs of its citizens and its fiscal budget, through the levying of various taxes.

According to Hilary Joffe (Sunday Times, 2020):

  • More than 7 million citizens will join the ranks of unemployment and more than 2.5 million jobs are at risk (currently the unemployment rate is already 29% and can thus jump to 48%),
  • National Treasury had to source R500 billion to provide for an economic stimulus package, to compensate for the decrease in revenue earned,
  • Economic researchers project an economic contraction of 5% but if disruption is extended it could be as high as 16%.
  • Household income, specifically middle-income earners will carry the brunt as this group do not receive social grants from government. Read more
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Publish date: 2021/04/19

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