President announces range of tax relief measures

President Irfaan Ali on Monday announced the removal of VAT (Value Added Tax), the reversal of VAT in some cases, and the removal of corporate tax in other cases. These will be included in the 2020 budget to be read on Wednesday.

There will be a reversal of VAT on electricity and water while pensioners will not have to pay for water.

There will be the removal of VAT and duties on machinery and equipment to allow for the recapitalization of key sectors, namely mining, forestry, agriculture and manufacturer.

Because of representation from the sector, there will be tax concessions on ATV for mining, forestry, agriculture and manufacturing.

There will be a reversal of land lease fees; for the poultry sector, this increase by over 1,000% over the last five years.

The President announced the reversal of VAT on fertilisers, agrochemicals, pesticides and key inputs in the poultry industry.

There will be a reversal of VAT on all exports and the removal of VAT on hinterland travel.

The VAT on all medical supplies will be removed.

There will be the removal of VAT on building and construction materials.

The removal of VAT on cellphones was also announced.

The President announced the removal of corporate tax on private education and private healthcare.

Any license renewed after October 2020 onwards will be reduced by 50%

To stimulate logging, change log export policy will allow sawmillers to export logs.

There will be a reversal of the policy to allow for important of used tyres and allow for import of vehicles more than 8 years.

There will be removal of requirement to register and take out road licenses for mining equipment. Further, there will be a removal of the requirement for miners to secure a police clearance to transport fuel in their own vehicles.