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The National Assembly at its sitting this afternoon agreed to four Bills and these will now be sent to the National Council of Provinces for concurrence.
 
Three of the Bills are to give effect to revenue proposals. These are the 2018 Rates and Monetary Amounts and Amendment of Revenue Laws Bill, the 2018 Taxation Laws Amendment Bill and the 2018 Tax Administration Laws Amendment Bill. Parliament held a number of public hearings on the Bills.
 
The Rates and Monetary Amounts and Amendment of Revenue Laws Bill, among other things, seeks to fix the rates of normal tax and amend the rate of estate duty under the Estate Duty Act of 1955. It also seeks to fix the rates of tax and monetary amounts under the Income Tax Act of 1962, the rates of duty in Schedule 1 of the Customs and Excise Act of 1964, rates of Value-Added Tax (VAT) and to provide for more efficient taxation of electronic commerce. The legal provision for the 15% VAT which came into effect on 1 April is contained in the Bill.
 
The Taxation Laws Amendment Bill, among other things, introduces specific criteria for determining the doubtful debt allowance for non-bank lenders, amendments aimed at closing abusive tax structure using the C-Venture Capital Company regime, and amendments to the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Royalty Act of 2008 (about the tax base for calculating the royalty)
 
The Tax Administration Laws Amendment Bill proposes to amend the Income Tax Act; the Income Tax Act, 1962; the Customs and Excise Act, 1964; the Value-Added Tax Act, 1991; the Securities Transfer Tax Act, 2007; the Tax Administration Act, 2011; and the Customs Control Act, 2014. The amended Bill, to which the National Assembly has agreed, requires the Minister of Finance to undertake a review in March 2021 of the VAT increase to 15% and to report on the findings before the end of June 2021, having evaluated the effect of the VAT increase on revenue collection and on the poor.
 
The National Assembly also agreed to the Repeal of the Overvaal Resorts Limited Bill. The Overvaal Resorts Limited Act of 1993 aimed to establish Overvaal Resorts Limited, as a public company, to hold and manage resorts on behalf of government. In 2001, the cabinet decided to dispose of the 14 resorts. However, there were several difficulties which delayed disposal of the resorts, including land claims and incorrect descriptions of the resorts registered at the Deeds Office.  In 2012 the company was put under liquidation and the current Bill seeks to repeal the Overvaal Resorts Limited Act, retaining, however, the state’s rights to servitudes in those resorts affected by the repeal. The Minister of Public Enterprises and the department must provide a progress report on outstanding land claims and related issues within two months of the National Assembly’s adoption of the Bill.

Issued by The Parliament Of The Republic Of South Africa