SA Budget 2025: SMEs left out in the cold as VAT hikes loom

Tawanda Karombo

Small-scale to medium enterprises (SME) play a pivotal role in South Africa’s economy but they may well have been forgotten when Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana delivered his 2025 Budget Speech this week. Shawn Theunissen, the founder of Property Point and eTTP, said the 2025 budget statement “was a missed opportunity to leverage SMEs as a catalyst for economic growth and job” creation. “Instead of bold action, we saw vague commitments and a lack of urgency on the issues that matter most to small businesses,” he said. The 0.5% VAT increase proposed for 2025/26, rising by another 0.5% the following year was expected to add an additional direct financial strain on SMEs. The hike in the VAT rate will increase operational costs for small businesses and further squeeze profit margins at…

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Sunday Independent (Digital) - 1 Issue, 2025-03-16

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