TOP NEWS | Wednesday, 18 July 2007

Children to be focus of pre-budget document

No income tax changes expected

Kurt Sansone

The pre-budget document to be published on Saturday is expected to lay down government’s intentions for the next budget which according to government sources will address the particular needs of families with children.
This time around government will not be quantifying the amount of dosh it intends to forego or hand out as it did last year when discussions on the pre-budget document revolved around the Lm8 million leeway, which turned out to be Lm15 million in the budget.
It is widely expected that the pre-budget document will contain proposals to reform the Children’s Allowance and possibly the introduction of new allowances to encourage families to have more kids.
Government sources admitted with Business Today that the tax cut delivered across the board last November did not address the needs of families with kids and this time around an array of measures will be adopted to alleviate the financial burden of child care for families.
In a wider family context the pre-budget document is also expected to include proposals to introduce fiscal incentives for parents who send their children to sports schools. Another suggestion is to widen the scope of tax credits on donations made by companies to cultural and sports organisations.
No changes are expected to the income tax regime except for a minor realignment of bands in view of the euro’s introduction come 1 January 2008.
The pre-budget document is also expected to address other vulnerable groups such as the elderly and will also reiterate government’s commitment to invest heavily in education.
The sources said that the rather lengthy document will include a number of proposals to direct the discussion along the lines dictated by government. At the end of the consultation period government will then decide which proposals to take on board in the budget which is expected to come late October.