Sanral clarifies VAT charge for e-tolls

[rpm]

Sanral clarifies VAT charge for e-tolls

The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) has clarified its position on why it charges VAT for e-tolls, after a road user*queried the notion that the system was already a tax, much like the fuel levy. A reader on Fin24

 

[Paul Hjul]

this is not going to end well for SANRAL

 

[bekdik]

this is not going to end well for SANRAL

Hopefully.

 

[ToxicBunny]

One can only hope.

 

[Sinbad]

E-toll is not a tax, but a user charge.

OK then, you can't criminalise non-payment. It's a civil matter surely?

“it was found that the e-toll financial model is a zero profit model”

Yes, that's because the costs are ridiculous.

 

[2026]

We get charged VAT for a lot of government services, it's always confused me.

 

[2026]

OK then, you can't criminalise non-payment. It's a civil matter surely?

They'll just get Zuma to write a new law that criminalizes it?

 

[Sinbad]

They'll just get Zuma to write a new law that criminalizes it?

To be fair, Zuma probably battles to write his name without checking the spelling with Mac.

 

[2026]

To be fair, Zuma probably battles to write his name without checking the spelling with Mac.

And even then they'd get it wrong.

 

[Sinbad]

Oh and further to the zero-profit model... I am sure Kapsch disagrees...?
Just because they're sending all the profit overseas, doesn't make it a zero-profit model.

 

[creeper]

this is not going to end well for SANRAL

Time for an email to SARS

 

[AfricanTech]

This is such a sickening, stinking mess it's quite depressing on some level.

What happened to plain old Swiss Banking accounts where you just siphon off the money quietly?

Oh noooooooooooo - we have to beggar our future generations as well by saddling them with debt that can only be paid off by the fiscus.

Fck!

 

[Paul Hjul]

Time for an email to SARS

If LiPSA gets a seat in Parliament SANRAL will have at least 5 years of hell playing around on the issue

 

[ToxicBunny]

We get charged VAT for a lot of government services, it's always confused me.

You get charged VAT on services, not on taxes....

That is the difference.

 

[creeper]

You get charged VAT on services, not on taxes....

That is the difference.

But what is 'user charge'?

 

[ToxicBunny]

But what is 'user charge'?

Its Vusi's way of try to spin the word "Tax"

 

[daveza]

Its Vusi's way of try to spin the word "Tax"

which you can't get taxed on as it's not a service.

 

[Paul Hjul]

Its Vusi's way of try to spin the word "Tax"

except that the term almost inevitably will appear in some authority as a tax unless otherwise provided for in statute
A judgment on the impact of income tax on the protection of judges remuneration comes to mind. A phrase like "save for user charges or other taxes" would be damning.

The muncipal finance legislation hops around on the issue but SANRAL is not a municipality

 

[creeper]

Its Vusi's way of try to spin the word "Tax"

And here we go: Gazette 2001

"‘‘user charge’’ means an identifiable payment charged for a specific marketable
good or service provided to a willing buyer and for which a direct benefit accrues,
in exchange for the payment of such fee, to the person making the payment;"

...spot the problem.

Hint: willing buyer

 

[Messugga]

And here we go: Gazette 2001

"‘‘user charge’’ means an identifiable payment charged for a specific marketable
good or service provided to a willing buyer and for which a direct benefit accrues,
in exchange for the payment of such fee, to the person making the payment;"

...spot the problem.

Hint: willing buyer

One can argue that going on the highway makes you a willing buyer, which is what SANRAL is bound to do.