Budget Speech malusi gigaba

(Photo by Gallo Images / Beeld / Felix Dlangamandla)

2018 National Budget speech: When is it and what to expect

The National Budget speech for the 2018/19 financial year will be delivered on Wednesday, 21 February 2018. It is scheduled to begin at 14:00. Unlike the State of the Nation address, which was postponed, the budget speech is unlikely to be affected by any political wheeling and dealing that might occur before then. As things […]

Budget Speech malusi gigaba

(Photo by Gallo Images / Beeld / Felix Dlangamandla)

The National Budget speech for the 2018/19 financial year will be delivered on Wednesday, 21 February 2018. It is scheduled to begin at 14:00.

Unlike the State of the Nation address, which was postponed, the budget speech is unlikely to be affected by any political wheeling and dealing that might occur before then.

As things stand, it is Malusi Gigaba who will deliver the speech, although, rumours of a cabinet reshuffle are afoot.

The budget will lay out how the government plans on spending money – your tax money essentially – and how it plans to plug the gap on any shortfalls.

One of the biggest things to look out for in this year’s budget is how free higher education for poor and working class students will be funded.

It was announced by former President Jacob Zuma last year, but no details of where the money is going to come from has been revealed yet. Nor is it clear how much it will actually cost.

Ramaphosa reiterated the move in his Sona address, saying:

“Starting this year‚ free higher education and training will be available to first-year students from households with a gross combined annual income of up to R350‚000.

“The Minister of Higher Education and Training will lead the implementation of this policy‚ while the Minister of Finance will clarify all aspects of the financing of the scheme during his Budget Speech next week”.

Three other big changes to look out for in the 2018 National Budget speech

  • VAT increase (widely touted to be announced, the first time since 1993).
  • An increase in Capital Gains Tax and personal income tax rates for upper-income earners are expected.
  • Fuel levy hike and carbon tax

Other experts have suggested things like a luxury tax on “unusually expensive cars”

In terms of income tax increases, an increase from 41% to 43% for everybody earning more than R700,000 a year, and an increase from 45% to 48% for those earning more than R1.5m has been touted by some analysts.

The shortfall for the current tax year (2017-18) is estimated to be between R50bn and R90bn.