Blog

OK, here we go again! As I am writing this the Greek government is unable to manufacture a coalition and the French have, unsurprisingly, moved to elect a President that has promised no/lower austerity measures. Yesterday the world stock markets trended lower by between 1 and 2% as market traders tried to work out the consequences of these developments.

Many will know that I serve in a volunteer capacity on the board of the Financial Intermediaries Association (the FIA). I also chair their Financial Planning Sub-committee. The FIA is the trade association which looks after the interests of the financial intermediary community, their interaction with clients, the industry and the authorities in Southern Africa. In this role, the FIA provided contributions to a recent request for input from the Financial Services Board (FSB).

Last month, I dedicated this one-pager to the looming dividend tax. What actually hit us at budget time last month was a tax rate 50% higher than what had originally been expected, 15% instead of the expected 10%. Why then is it that the new dividend withholding tax, introduced at 15% in replacement of STC at 10%, is budgeted, by Treasury, to lose R1,9 billion in revenue?