afrol News, 7 April - South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance has trumpeted calls for the extension of a tax rebate for security-related expenses to private citizens and businesses, saying it has already written to the South African Revenue Services to that effect.

The party said despite a massive R40-billion on private security spent by South Africans in 2007, the state failed to protect them from crime, but individuals may not claim tax relief for these expenses.

"Private security costs in South Africa were a mere R 2 billion short of the government’s entire SA Police Service budget [R42-billion], and more than double that of its prisons (R12-billion) and court [R10-billion] budgets," the DA said in a statement.

It complaint why individuals are offered "no tax relief for private security costs, including for erecting defensive walls, armed-response services, razor wire, guard dogs, insurance or any other security expenses which relate to non-business activities."

The government had earlier said security expenses for businesses would soon be tax deductible. But DA's Finance Spokesperson, Kobus Marais, called for security-related tax relief for private individuals as well, adding that his party had since 2004 proposed that private citizens be allowed to claim back money they had spent on providing security for themselves.

The DA’s policy document ‘Freedom from Fear’ called for tax relief of up to R5,000 or 5% of taxable income spent by households on verifiable private security-related expenses.

“In this way, members of the public will be compensated to some extent for the authorities’ inability to protect them adequately,” he said.

In order to protect themselves, members of the public were forced to pay over and above what they already paid in taxes.

“They ought to be allowed to claim the money back, as they are providing for themselves a service that is the responsibility of the state.”

The party’s 2008 Alternative Budget called for VAT rebates on expenditure such as burglar bars, alarm systems, boom gates, surveillance cameras, motor vehicle tracking devices and rapid response teams.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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