Finance minister Enoch Godongwana tabled his 2025 budget on Wednesday, sticking to his guns in announcing a VAT hike of half a percentage point for this year and next, with no inflation-related adjustments to personal income tax or the fuel levy.
The budget the minister was supposed to table in February outlined a two-percentage point increase to VAT, taking it from 15% to 17%. Pushback from the cabinet, however, forced parliament to postpone the tabling of the budget to Wednesday.
The tax policy proposals, the Budget Review said, are designed to raise R28bn in additional revenue in 2025/2026 and R14.5bn in 2026/2027. While this did not cover the R60bn shortfall the original VAT proposal sought to close, it balanced service delivery and development goals.
Below is Godongwana's full and unedited budget speech:
TimesLIVE
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