Budget 2015’s Winners and Losers

Here are, as according to Minister Nene's Budget Speech, those who came up on top, and those who suffered in the 2015 Budget Speech

Winners:

• Sectors where Government's supportive efforts have been intensified: tourism, agriculture, light manufacturing and housing construction.
• Companies providing school books, medicine, fuel for SAPS vehicles and maintenance of infrastructure to the State will enjoy inflation-beating increases in their business.
• Operation Phakisa's first LAB, the Ocean Economy, is gaining traction with a R9.2bn allocation to offshore oil and gas exploration and R296m for climate change and marine resources management.
• Emerging farmers who will be supported through a R7bn agricultural development grant to provinces and greater access to finance in collaboration with the Land Bank. In the next three years a further 1.2m hectares will be acquired and R4.7bn has been allocated to recapitalise and develop farms.
• Bottom end home buyers. The tax-free threshold on property transactions has been raised from R600 000 to R750 000.
• Micro enterprises where the tax has been halved for companies whose turnover is under R1m and the tax free threshold increased from R150 000 to R300 000.

Losers:

• With a 30c per litre increase in the fuel levy and a 50c a litre jump to R1.54 in the Road Accident Fund contribution, motorists are carrying the biggest burden in the 2015 Budget. Some relief on eTolls with Central Government promising to contribute funds to pay for the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project.
• Drinkers and smokers. Higher "sin" taxes will see the excise duty from alcohol rising R1.2bn and cigarettes by R600m.
• Middle class and higher home buyers. The maximum rate of 8% has been increased to 11% for properties that sell for over R2 25m.
• Big businesses that depend on momentum from economic growth – scarcity of electricity cited as main reason for Government dropping its expected 2015 GDP growth rate to 2% from October's projected 2.5%.
• Those who pay for their electricity consumption. The levy has been virtually doubled from 3.5c to 5.5c per kW/h.
• Companies providing catering, entertainment and venue hire to the public sector – spending by the State on these areas to be cut by 8% in real terms. Those delivering travel and hospitality services will have to cope with a 4% drop in budgets.
• Newspapers will lose a major source of income – after the introduction of an electronic system for all tenders, the old tender advertisements in the Press will be phased out.