The impact of transfer duty on the South African middle income earner's decision to purchase a house

Abstract

A growing middle class has emerged during the past two decades, accompanying the strong economic growth that has been experienced in South Africa and Africa alike. A brief by the African Development Bank (AfDB) argues that this middle class may hold the key to rebalancing African economies towards more dependency on domestic demand. The AfDB suggests that the continued rise in Africa’s middle class would require policies to boost the incomes of those already in the middle class. Although the Bank did not find hard evidence of a direct link between the middle class effect and growth, it would suggest that the promotion of middle class growth is more cost effective than policies solely on addressing the problems of the poor and generate more long-term poverty reducing benefits. Characteristics of a middle income earner will be considered in this study, in particular that middle class households tend to reside in bigger and more permanent dwellings. The findings of the AfDB will be applied to the South Africa context in which dwellings are acquired. In South Africa, transfer duty taxes are raised on the purchase of dwellings above a certain amount. Transfer duty in its current form might be placing a financial restriction on certain income groups to purchase a house and in particular the middle income earner. The transfer duty threshold was increased during the 2011 Budget Speech from R500 000 to R600 000. This additional tax relief by Government attempted to ensure that property affordable to low income earners fell below the threshold, but might not have considered the impact of this increase on the middle income earner. This study will aim to determine whether the transfer duty taxes and threshold will have an impact on the decision of a middle income earner to purchase a house. AFRIKAANS : 'N groeiende middelklas het na vore gekom tydens die afgelope twee dekades tesame met die sterk ekonomiese groei wat in beide Suid-Afrika en Afrika ervaar is. Die African Development Bank (AfDB) voer aan dat hierdie middelklas moontlik die sleutel hou tot die herbalansering van Afrika-ekonomieë na 'n meer afhanklikheid aan binnelandse vraag. Die AfDB dui daarop dat die volgehoue styging in Afrika se middelklas, beleide sal vereis wat die inkomste van die persone reeds in die middelklas, sal versterk. Hoewel die Bank nie harde bewyse van 'n direkte skakel tussen die middelklas-effek en groei kan vind nie, sou dit daarop dui dat die bevordering van die middelklas groei meer koste-effektief is as beleide wat slegs gefokus is op die addressering van armes se probleme en meer langtermyn-armoede-vermindering voordele in hou. Kenmerke van 'n middel-inkomste verdiener sal oorweeg word in hierdie studie, veral dat middle klas huishoudings neig om in meer permanente en groter wonings te bly. Die bevindinge van die AfDB sal aangewend word in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks waarin wonings verkry word. In Suid-Afrika word hereregte belasting op die aankoop van huise bo 'n sekere bedrag gehef. Hereregte in sy huidige vorm kan moontlik 'n finansiële beperking op sekere inkomste groepe plaas om 'n huis te koop en in die besonder die middel-inkomste verdiener. Die hereregte-drempel is gedurende die 2011 Begrotingsrede van R500 000 tot R600 000 verhoog. Hierdie bykomende belasting verligting deur die regering probeer om te verseker dat eiendom bekostigbaar vir lae-inkomstegroepe onder die drempel val, maar oorweeg moontlik nie die impak van hierdie verhoging op die middel-inkomste verdiener. Hierdie studie sal poog om te bepaal of die hereregte belastings en drempel 'n impak sal hê op die besluit van 'n middel-inkomste verdiener om 'n huis te koop. Copyright