DA’s ConCourt bid to strip finance minister of VAT powers to be heard

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is in the Constitutional Court on Thursday to seek a final order on the constitutional invalidity of the power of the finance minister to unilaterally set the Value Added Tax (VAT) rate.

The party has noted that while the Constitution gives that power to Parliament, a section of the VAT Act delegates the setting of VAT to the minister without a requirement of major support in Parliament.

The DA is seeking that the court declare the VAT Act of 1991 invalid and instruct Parliament to amend its laws to ensure that the power to set VAT only sits with Parliament and not the executive.

DA’s Parliamentary Leader, George Michalakis says, “The DA is here to fight for a fair deal for South Africans and to ensure that we do not have a case as we nearly had a year or two ago if the DA didn’t go to court, where the minister of finance can decide unilaterally to impose a 2% VAT hike that will ultimately cripple many, many poor households across the country. ” Michalakis says, “This decision should lie with Parliament, and ultimately, in a constitutional democracy it’s Parliament who decides on how South Africans get taxed.

We have won this victory in the Western Cape High Court, and it is our privilege to today be here in the Constitutional Court on behalf of all South Africans.” RELATED VIDEO | SARS releases model to modernise VAT administration: