National
Sanitary pads, flour get zero-VAT rating─── 07:43 Thu, 25 Oct 2018
Value-added tax (VAT) on white bread flour, white cake flour and sanitary pads will be zero-rated from 1 April next year, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni announced on Wednesday.
The minister's announcement followed work done by a panel of experts who were tasked with making recommendations to National Treasury on whether the list of zero-rated items should be expanded.
The panel, in a report released in August, recommended that South Africans be exempt from paying VAT on white bread, white bread flour, cake flour, sanitary products, nappies and school uniforms.
"The revenue loss associated with zero-rating these items is estimated at R1.2 billion.
"However, zero-rating these products target low-income households and restore the dignity of our people," Mboweni said.
Mboweni on Wednesday slashed the 2018 growth forecast from 1.5 percent to 0.7 percent.
"For ordinary South Africans, it has become a difficult time," he said.
"Prices, such as electricity and fuel, have risen. Unemployment is unacceptably high.
"Poor services and corruption have hit the poor the hardest."
