“We are still grappling with the concept of Capital Gains Tax and aren’t comfortable around it. However, for businesses and companies, we feel that it’s the right thing to do, as companies were using this loophole to avoid paying tax”
The Minister of Finance, Neal Rijkenberg has come out to say that they are not comfortable with the introduction of personal Capital Gains Tax (CGT) as a ministry.
This is quite interesting, considering that the Minister announced during his budget speech in February 2022 that the government was proposing the implementation of CGT. Rijkeberg was, however, clear on the fact that they were not comfortable with personal CGT, but not business CGT. “To bring personal CGT is probably not right, and we are still not comfortable with it, as the Ministry of Finance, even though most countries are going down this route. We are still grappling with this concept. However, for businesses and companies, we feel that it’s the right thing to do, as companies were using this loophole to avoid paying tax” he noted.
The Kingdom of Eswatini is one of the few countries in the region that has not introduced CGT. Interestingly, this is one of the things that made the country attractive from an investment perspective. Rijkeberg stated that these proposed changes are done in consultation with international bodies such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Furthermore, the Minister noted that the review in taxes is actually a road taken by most economies global. “The review of taxes is actually the global norm these days. Most global economies are reducing corporate tax to as far as 15%. We have also proposed to reduce it, but we are miles away from competing with other first world economies in this regard. Eswatini has to conform to such or else we will find ourselves not being the preferred investment destination” he said.
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