‘Green’ duty evades detection

THERE IS a new tax law which - because of its currently limited application - may have been missed by a lot of people in the freight and import sectors.
But, according to Safcor Panalpina, it is tucked away in the Revenue Laws Amendment Act which was signed into law on December 17.
This was the introduction of a new type of duty - the environmental levy.
“It is known technically as “part 3 to schedule 1” of the Customs Act,” a spokesman said, “and the new duty combines elements of both ordinary customs duties and excise taxes in that it applies equally to imported goods and those produced locally.”
At present only plastic bags attract the levy, with the rate for both imported and locally
manufactured bags at R10 per kilogram.
But for those of you who don’t know, check out “part 3 to schedule 1”, because it may be applied to other products sometime soon.