The Government has gazetted the suspension of Value Added Tax (VAT) on selected basic grocery items with effect from today, 01 February 2024.
The Statutory Instrument 10A of 2024 exempts basic food items such as bread, milk, cooking oil and maize meal from Value Added Tax.
The promulgation of SI 10A of 2024 comes after business leaders made submissions to the Government that the proposed VAT measures in the 2024 National Budget would fuel price hikes.
Through Statutory Instrument 10A of 2024, published in a supplementary Government Gazette issued on Wednesday, Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister, Mthuli Ncube, said the Customs and Excise (Suspension) Regulation 2003 published in Statutory Instrument 257 of 2003 has been repealed. Reads in the Statutory Instrument in part:
It is hereby notified that the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, in terms of Section 235 as read with Section 120 of the Customs and Excise Act (Chapter 23:02) has made the following regulations.
The regulations may be cited as the Customs and Exchange (Suspension)(Amendment) Regulations, 2024 (No. 272).
The Customs and Excise (Suspension) Regulation 2003 published in Statutory Instrument 257 of 2003 (hereafter called the principal regulations) are amended by the repeal of Section 91 (Suspension of duty on cooking oil, maize, milk, sugar, rice, flour, salt, bath soap, laundry soap, washing soap, baking powder, toothpaste and petroleum Jelly) with effect from 1st February 2024.
Since the beginning of this year, the majority of businesses have hiked prices in response to rising taxation and increases in the cost of power and energy.
Bakeries also hiked the price of bread from US$1 to between US$1.10 and US1.20.
Meanwhile, Bakers Inn, a subsidiary of Simbisa Brands, on Wednesday said with immediate effect it has reduced the cost of bread from US$1.10 to US$1.
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