Revenue Laws Amendment Bill: committee report (finalisation)

Video The Select Committee met virtually to consider the Committee report on the 2025 Revenue Laws Amendment Bill [B5-2025] and to adopt draft minutes from previous meetings. The Chairperson summarised the report's key recommendations, including the need for National Treasury, the South African Revenue Service, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, and the pension fund industry to continue educating members on the implications of accessing retirement savings under the two-pot system prior to retirement. This education should emphasise the long-term consequences of withdrawals, particularly the impact of lost compound growth and administrative fees. She also highlighted that proposals made by the Congress of South African Trade Unions should be considered carefully, ensuring that pension funds continued to fulfil their primary purpose of providing adequate retirement savings while maintaining the intended objectives of the two-pot system. A Member raised a concern regarding employer compliance with pension fund contributions, commenting that certain businesses had failed to pay employee contributions into pension funds, and that this issue had not been captured in the Committee report. He suggested an amendment to section six of the report, recommending that the Committee explicitly note these concerns and call upon all relevant stakeholders to ensure prompt payment of contributions to pension schemes. Another Member indicated that National Treasury’s response on granting full access to retirement pots was too generic, and lacked clarity on the conditions under which access would be permitted. For this reason, he could not support the adoption of the report in its current form. The Chairperson acknowledged the Members' contributions, and confirmed that the report was adopted, recording the sole dissenting vote. Following the adoption of the report, the Committee considered and adopted draft minutes from previous meetings.