The Ministry of Finance of South Africa is preparing to lower the level from which it considers that a taxpayer is a millionaire, with the objective of increasing tax revenue in the most industrialized African country.
“We want to expand our tax base,” said the unit’s director in the Ministry of Finance who manages the fiscal situation of citizens with high heritage, Natasha Singh.
The solution? Millionaires.
In an interview with Bloomberg Financial Information Agency, Natasha Singh said that there are “many ways to expand the tax base, one is attracting more contributors with 75 million rands (about 3.6 million euros) in gross assets, another is Reduce criteria on individuals of high liquid heritage“.
Taxpayers with gross yield of at least 75 million rands are scrutinized by the unit of individuals with high net assets of the South Africa Tax Authority, with more than 4,000 citizens in this situation, twice the number of 2022, when the unit was created.
Expand the number of citizens in this situation And widening existing offers, such as dedicated managers for richest taxpayers, could increase revenue collection without resorting to politically unpopular taxes.
The Statute of South Africa as One of the most unequal countries in the world has repeatedly fed the Aposi at creating a wealth taxbut the introduction of the measure has bumped into fears that it could trigger a capital escape.
According to a study that was discussed in the South African parliament at the beginning of the year, about 49 billion rand (2.3 billion euros) in annual revenues could be lost if the 10% of taxpayers with the highest personal income emigrated.
“We believe most taxpayers are honest and want to fulfill the rules, and it is our role to make it easier with the greatest simplicity and the lowest cost,” said Singh.
