Good news for taxpayers in the latest report of the Katz Commission on tax is that no new taxes are likely to be levied by the provinces, at least for the moment.
In its report tabled last week the commission urges the government not to rush into changes to the tax system to enable the provinces to raise taxes.
Decentralising tax is a complicated matter, the commissioners say, and should be managed gradually.
The commission also cautions against proposals by the Financial and Fiscal Commission that a surcharge on personal income tax be levied by the provinces, mostly because it would be hard to administer. Instead, the commissioners favour a surcharge on the fuel levy, which, they say, should be collected at the pump and could be administered with a minimum of costs by the SA Revenue Services.
The surcharge would not be an additional cost to motorists but the provinces would be allowed to collect part of the approximately R14,4 billion which the fuel levy raises each year. The commissioners suggest that the government set minimum and maximum levels for the levy, so that the total burden on taxpayers does not increase.
But there is a little sting in the tail of the commissioners' report: though they stop short of giving away the conclusions of their forthcoming report on land tax, they say that a land tax "may be a first step" in decentralising taxes to the provinces.