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SA ranks 13th on Green Tax Index
May 8, 2013, 3:14 pm

[Xinhua]

Durban, South Africa [Xinhua]

The KPMG Green Tax Index named South Africa as the 13th most active country out of 21 major global economies using tax as a tool to drive sustainable corporate behaviour and achieve green policy goals.

According to KPMG, South Africa’s Section 121 Tax Allowance Incentive is designed to encourage the development of major manufacturing projects in the country and offers support for both capital investment and training.

The incentive offers a tax allowance of between 35 per cent and 100 per cent up to a maximum of $97 million for greenfield projects with “preferred” status.

Some 13 projects have been approved so far under Section 121 with a total investment value of approximately $2.4 billion.

Singapore, Finland, Germany, Australia, Brazil Argentina, Mexico and Russia trail South Africa in the list.

The leaders on the list are the US, Japan, Britain, France, South Korea and China.

South Africa ranks third on water efficiency, third on pollution control and ecosystem protection, fourth on energy efficiency and sixth on carbon and climate change.

“It should also be noted that South Africa has many green tax instruments in the pipeline; soon to be implemented is the proposed carbon tax and the energy efficiency tax incentive,” KPMG said.

“Therefore, it is a strategic imperative for companies to understand the green tax environment and its implications for their business.”

 Source: Agencies