Budget speeches have never packed in quite so many curveballs - from SARS eyeing influencers and crypto clampdowns to ghost workers, gambling taxes and R88bn in unclaimed assets. It’s a fiscal fine-tooth comb sweeping across social media feeds, public payrolls and even your travel wallet.
Here are 10 things you didn’t know you needed to know from this year’s Budget. More from Currency:
SARS has managed to register 1.3 million new taxpayers across various categories, adding R4.9bn to revenue. Most notably it's started making a play for social influencers.
About 26 million people in this country are active on social media, and SARS is now working on pinning down an exact definition for influencers, said Commissioner Edward Kieswetter. In the meantime, those that earn an income by influencing fall in the regular tax net and if earning above the current thresholds “you should be declaring it”, he added.
Government is continuing with its “ghost worker” audit to root out non-existent or ineligible individuals on the public-sector payroll. The audit has already found 4323 suspicious cases in the personnel management system PERSAL. A verification process, which includes checking the National Population Register and physical verification, is underway “and employees who cannot be physically verified will have salaries withheld and their employment status suspended.”
The social relief of distress grant, first instituted as an emergency measure during the Covid-19 pandemic, will be allocated an extra R36.4bn this year to extend payments until 31 March 2027. Beneficiaries receive R370 per month. The discussions on this grant are an “ongoing exercise” and will probably be outlined later this year in the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement, according to finance minister Enoch Godongwana.
National Treasury’s plans to slap online gambling with a 20% tax on gross revenue is open for comment until the end of the week. Then it will hold a workshop with those who commented and spin the wheel with draft legislation later this year.
An additional amount of R2.7bn will be allocated to defence over the medium term. This is to improve operations, and includes maintaining the South African Air Force’s fighter capability. But also to buy uniforms.
Plans are afoot to centralise the management and investment of more than R88bn in unclaimed financial assets. This includes retirement benefits, bank accounts, investments and insurance payouts. The purpose is to let the benefits accrue to the actual owners of these assets instead of allowing financial institutions, or the government to have at them.
Treasury is planning changes to exchange control regulations to include crypto assets in its capital flows management framework. This is to complement regulation by the Financial Services Conduct Authority which four years ago officially declared crypto assets (such as Bitcoin and Ethereum) to be “financial products”.
No longer will you only be allowed to carry R25,000 in South African bank notes when entering or exiting the country. To maintain purchasing power for travellers, says Treasury, the limit will now be increased to R100,000.
Checks by the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) have flagged some 291,581 grant beneficiaries for review. SASSA had to do this as part of getting its own grant from Treasury for the last fiscal year. And so the agency is using better biometric and income verification processes, and is undertaking more frequent eligibility reviews. A further 34 661 grants were cancelled, generating expected savings of R170.7m by the end of 2025/26.
To rejuvenate the civil service and, more importantly, manage the wage bill an early retirement programme has been embarked upon. Almost 7700 applications from eligible employees have been approve, which will cost taxpayers R3.7bn but the estimated net savings are R5.5bn, about half of which will be realised in the 2026/27 fiscal year.
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