Analyses & Studies

South Africa's 2024 Budget Speech Predictions: Focus on Fiscal Discipline and Revenue Enhancement - ENS Tax Department

South Africa's Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, is set to deliver the much-anticipated 2024 budget speech on February 21st. With economic challenges looming, the budget aims to achieve disciplined financial management, enhance tax collection, promote efficiency, and ensure responsible spending to support sustainable economic growth while easing the burden on South African households. 

Recommendations from the medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS) suggest focusing on improving revenue collection efficiency through modernizing tax systems, deploying artificial intelligence, and enhancing digitization instead of resorting to tax hikes.  

Minister Godongwana has cautioned that the 2024 budget may introduce tax measures to generate additional revenue of R15 billion in the 2024/2025 financial year, starting in April 2024. 

Recent data indicates that tax collections until November 2023 have shown minimal growth, with expenditure increasing by 8% compared to the same period last year.  

Personal income tax and VAT have increased by 8%, while corporate income tax has declined by 14%, reflecting the challenges faced by companies due to tight margins and a downturn in commodity prices. 

Read the full article by ENS Africa here.