Carbon tax will boost SA trade opportunities – Treasury

The National Treasury claims the carbon tax will not have a negative effect on trade but will help protect SA companies against punitive trade actions for failing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. According to a Fin24 report, Treasury deputy DG Ismail Momoniat told the Standing Committee on Finance that once the carbon tax had been implemented, local companies would find more international companies wanting to trade with SA. Momoniat said all companies worldwide were feeling the pressure to reduce emissions, which was a global problem. ‘It is the only tax I’ve seen where we are trying to provide as much information as we can about the next five or ten years. The sooner there is certainty on the Bill in its final form, the sooner we will get all players to conform,’ Momoniat said. He added the World Bank and most lending companies throughout the world were insisting that companies take active steps to reduce carbon emissions. ‘Unfortunately, in our country it looks like it is going to be a serious battle,’ Momoniat said. Finance Committee chair Yunus Carrim told MPs they would come back to vote on the Carbon Tax Bill – previously examined in Legalbrief Policy Watch – on 5 February, a week before the committee’s first scheduled meeting for 2019.

Carbon Tax Bill (B46-2018)

Full Fin24 report