Poultry: call for no VAT

INDUSTRY GROWTH: PRODUCERS’ BODY TO APPLY TO TREASURY BY NOVEMBER

- Amanda Visser

The poultry industry in South Africa has identified VAT-free chicken as one of the three critical pillars to secure future growth for producers.

The South African Poultry Association (Sapa) will submit an application to add certain chicken portions to the existing list of food products that are zero-rated for value-added tax (VAT).

It expects to finalise the application to National Treasury by November.

Government is considering a review of the current basket of 21 zero-rated items. Lobbyists have been pushing hard for chicken products to be added to the list.

Sapa CEO Izaak Breitenbach said during an agriculture roundtable discussion last week that the benefits of VAT-free chicken are "enormous". People who are malnourished will be able to access affordable protein.

Sapa anticipates a material increase in consumption due to a drop in the price of poultry if some portions are zero-rated.

Except for tinned pilchards and sardines, there are no other meat protein sources on the list, Charles de Wet, executive consultant at ENSafrica, said earlier.

Cost to the fiscus