The panel on value-added tax (VAT) has submitted its report and recommended that white bread, flour, school uniforms, nappies and sanitary towels should be made zero-rated items, the finance ministry said on Friday.
"The panel further recommends that government should expedite the provision of free sanitary products to the poor and that the zero-rating of school uniforms be done only if they can be separated from general clothing," National Treasury said.
It added that, for each of the recommended items, the panel suggested that the treasury did further investigations to "ensure that the benefits of zero-rating accrue to consumers and are not captured by producers".
The panel was appointed by the finance ministry after VAT was increased from 14 to 15 percent earlier in the year.
It was mandated to evaluate the list of zero-rated items, consider the addition of further items to the list and consider other measures to mitigate the impact of the increase on poor households.
The ministry said the recommendations would now be subjected to further public input, which would include parliamentary hearings.
Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene would then take into account these submissions, as well as those of the treasury team and the revenue service, before deciding which of the panel's recommendations to implement.
National Treasury said public comments must be submitted in writing to vatsubmissions@treasury.gov.za by the close of business on August 31.
- African News Agency (ANA),
