Deputy Speaker, Rates and Monetary Amounts and Amendment of Revenue Laws Bill; Taxation Laws Amendment Bill and the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill are crucial for the sustenance of the country. In the past, we have witnessed these Bills presented as nothing else but Bills that deals with administration of tax, Bills
that are always rushed, not given serious consideration and often processed within a short space of time.
But the reality is that these Bills have serious implications of the lives of our people, and things are not getting better for them. In South Africa, it is workers who bear the tax burden the most, who experience tax increases every year, who are left penniless month- to-month as the cost of living has shackled them into permanent poverty.
Value Added Tax, VAT, was increased from 14 to 15% with an impression that decision will be reviewed, the cost of bread, milk, millie-meal and all other stable foods. The cost of transport, electricity and housing has increased. South African workers are amongst the highly taxed in the world and things are getting worse. Tax by employees continues when wages have not increased.
The reality is that the value of wages today is less than the value of yesterday's wages, and the rate of tax is of tomorrow's wages. The Rates and Monetary Amounts and Amendment of Revenue Laws Bill wants to raise
R12,8 billion from personal income tax, from which wages? The workers are asking, where should the money come from?
The Ruling Party and SA Revenue Services, SARS, has deliberately failed to build the necessary capacity to deal with all forms of illicit financial flows and base erosion activities. Illicit tobacco trade, illicit counterfeits goods, illicit illegal movement of undeclared minerals, chrome, platinum, gold and others, and also illegal forms of payment that are not declared to SARS.
While SARS tells us that the revenue loses as a result of illicit tobacco trade amounting to R9 billion every year, international institution like Global Financial Integrity, Africa Monitor, Tax Justice and the United Nation Office on Drugs and Crime, all estimates that South Africa loses more than R200 billion every year because of illicit financial flows and base erosions.
To deal with illicit financial flows decisively, the EFF's General Anti- Avoidance of Tax Bill, puts in place comprehensive measures including harsh penalties for the
biggest culprits, the directors of banks, audit companies and bulk of multinational businesses. The Bill is in its final drafting stages. Lastly, amendment to continue with Employment Incentive Skill that encourages employment of young people when all the evidence shows that the whole thing has failed should be considered theft of taxpayer's money.
Unemployment is currently sitting at 29% and the majority of people unemployed are young people. Unemployment amongst young people is more than 50% and it's on the rise, including graduate with post-matric qualification. All that has been achieved with the Employment Incentive Skill is to benefit middlemen and companies, when young people remain languishing in the streets.
The Administration Bills are a sign that the Ruling Party has no believable plans to raise revenue in a believable way. The Ruling Party continues to support big businesses and with tax incentives they do not deserve instead of increased company income tax. SARS has no believable plan of how to tax technological companies like Uber, Google
and Takealot that continues to aggressively avoid paying tax. The EFF rejects these Bills. [Applause.]