Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene has extended the deadline for a panel of experts appointed to review the current list of items exempt from value-added tax (VAT) to submit its final report to him, Treasury said on Tuesday.

"The Chair of the Independent Panel of Experts for the review of the current list of VAT zero-rated items, Professor Ingrid Woolard, today requested from the Minister of Finance an extension of today’s deadline for the submission of its report," a statement from Treasury said.

"The Minister has agreed to extend the deadline from 31 July 2018 to 6 August 2018. The report will be made public soon thereafter."

The panel was appointed after Treasury increased VAT from 14 to 15 percent in April to help raise an additional R36 billion as South Africa tries to narrow its budget deficit.

The panel is tasked with looking at the impact of the VAT increase on poor and low-income households and how this could be mitigated through measures such as increasing the basket of 19 items exempt from VAT.

In May, Nene expanded the scope of the panel, giving it more flexibility to make proposals which could alter the fiscal framework for the 2019/20 financial year and beyond.