From a tax perspective, it must be said that the number of
proposed changes to the various fiscal Acts (mainly the Income Tax
Act and the VAT Act) are considerably fewer than in prior years. If
this results in a reduction in the number of amendments to be made
to the various Acts, this will certainly be welcome, as the extent
of the changes in the past few years has simply been
overwhelming.
Contrary to widespread speculation there were no increases in
direct taxation, but rather there was some tax relief. However that
is not to say that there were no surprises, which bring an end to
the light touch with which certain transactions have been dealt
with. In particular, we note the announcement of much tougher rules
relating to the taxation of trusts, and the extent to which
interest deductions will be limited by use of interest cover
rules.
