DarthSWNT
New member
I have been talking to people in the industry about the tax and many interesting points came up:
State before:
Before the new tax, up to 34% on monitors over 19inch, any monitor that did not have a tuner in it was not obliged to pay the import tax. The result was the companies had to import TV's in component form and hire locals to assemble and distribute. This created jobs for the companies that assembled them and also lead to the use of tuner manufacturers in South Africa, promoting business and jobs.
During this time, the people who benefited from the lack of tax were the largest consumers. These involved schools, hospitals, companies and ironically, Government.
State now:
Due to the new tax, suppliers can no longer benefit from bringing in tvtuner-less monitors, and it is now cheaper to import in tvtuner fitted monitors rather than help local manufacturers and give people jobs. Therefore the local market has not actually been helped due to high labour costs in SA.
The people that lose out the most are the ones that benefited the most before: gov. spends more, hospitals cannot afford their specialised (upwards of R80 000 for a 22inch) and education. The amount Gov. would make from monitor-tax on corporates and consumers is directly set-off against what they have to pay for their own purchases.
So... in summation... pointless tax until labour is cheap enough. I was enlightened by the conversation, so thought I would share it
State before:
Before the new tax, up to 34% on monitors over 19inch, any monitor that did not have a tuner in it was not obliged to pay the import tax. The result was the companies had to import TV's in component form and hire locals to assemble and distribute. This created jobs for the companies that assembled them and also lead to the use of tuner manufacturers in South Africa, promoting business and jobs.
During this time, the people who benefited from the lack of tax were the largest consumers. These involved schools, hospitals, companies and ironically, Government.
State now:
Due to the new tax, suppliers can no longer benefit from bringing in tvtuner-less monitors, and it is now cheaper to import in tvtuner fitted monitors rather than help local manufacturers and give people jobs. Therefore the local market has not actually been helped due to high labour costs in SA.
The people that lose out the most are the ones that benefited the most before: gov. spends more, hospitals cannot afford their specialised (upwards of R80 000 for a 22inch) and education. The amount Gov. would make from monitor-tax on corporates and consumers is directly set-off against what they have to pay for their own purchases.
So... in summation... pointless tax until labour is cheap enough. I was enlightened by the conversation, so thought I would share it
