Preliminary amount of R4.1bn applied for in two pot system
The South African Revenue Service (Sars) has announced that it has received a total 161,607 tax directive applications.
This includes the directives which have been cancelled. 159, 853 relates to Savings Withdrawal Benefits, which is 98.9% of the total number of applications received from Sunday 1 to 10 September 2024, which means Sars received an average of 17,964 tax directive applications a day.
Gross amount of the lump sums for the applications received totals R4.1 billion.
Sars Commissioner Edward Kieswetter said contributions made to a pension or retirement fund were not taxed at the time of payment to the fund but deferred to the time the person retires and then taxed at a reduced rate. However, when an individual withdraws now, they will be taxed at their marginal tax rate.
Commissioner Kieswetter said, “Applications for tax directives are submitted to Sars by the fund administrator via eFiling. The directive indicates to the fund how much tax should be withheld by the fund on behalf of Sars before payout.
“Taxpayers who owe Sars money must realise that this tax debt will be added to the tax on withdrawal from the savings benefit. But if there are payment arrangements in place to settle the debt with Sars, this debt will be deducted as per agreement between Sars and the taxpayer. A tax debt that has been deferred will also not be deducted,” Commissioner Kieswetter said
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Standard Bank sees an increase in new credit cards issuing
Standard Bank has announced that it has recorded a 52% increase year on year in new credit cards issued up to the end of August 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
Despite this, the bank said the average approved limits are slightly lower this year.
“With living costs soaring in the past two years, these high volumes suggest consumers could be relying on credit cards more. However, we've noticed that an increasing number of people are treating their credit cards as transactional accounts. This trend suggests that the rise in credit card usage might be driven by consumers looking to earn more UCount reward points,” says the Head of Credit at Standard Bank, Tumelo Ramugondo.
Ramugondo said that while a credit card was traditionally a useful borrowing option to finance big-ticket purchases, its role has evolved into an everyday payment tool. It has become especially useful for consumers who want to spread the cost of items purchased during big sales to take advantage of the flexibility offered by buy-now-pay-later options.
Consumers are also using their credit cards as budgeting tools because they can benefit from up to 55 days of interest-free grace period on purchases. Additionally, if they pay their balance in full each month, they can continue to benefit from this grace period for the next 30 days.
“However, Standard Bank's credit card division data shows that some consumers aren’t using their credit cards optimally. We see a lot of transactions that are costly to pay with a credit card, like cash withdrawals. We don’t encourage cash transactions because they attract interest from day one,” says Ramugondo.
Asisa appoints new CEO
Association for Savings and Investment South Africa (Asisa) has announced that it appointed Kaizer Moyane as CEO, effective November 1, 2024.
Moyane takes over from Adrian Burke, who has served in an interim capacity since February 2024.
Asisa said Moyane who is an attorney by profession is no stranger to financial services. He is completing his tenure as Head of Employee Relations, Transformation, and Compliance at Sanlam. Before joining Sanlam, Moyane was a Human Resources Executive at Nedbank.
Moyane also chairs the Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) Standing Committee on Social and Transformation Policy and is the Overall Business Convenor at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC).
“The appointment of Kaizer as CEO of our industry association follows an extensive search for an exceptional individual who not only has an in-depth understanding of our industry but also deep insights into the challenges facing our country,” says Iain Williamson, Chairman of Asisa.
Williamson says the Asisa Board was also encouraged by Kaizer’s proven expertise in driving the transformation agenda, both at a company and a national level, since the transformation is at the top of Asisa’s strategic priorities.
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