The signing into law of changes to the tax
treatment of retirement funds has sparked an uproar from the Congress of
South African Trade Unions (Cosatu).
The aim with the retirement reforms — which will be effective from March — is to create a simpler and more uniform regime that will ensure the preservation of a large portion of retirement savings post-retirement.
Cosatu is of the view that no government has a right to unilaterally decide for workers, how and when to spend their retirement savings.
South Africans have been branded the worst savers in the world. Figures supplied by Statistics SA and Trading Economics show that the household saving rate in SA decreased to -2.30% in the third quarter of last year from -2.20% in the second quarter of the same year.
The aim with the retirement reforms — which will be effective from March — is to create a simpler and more uniform regime that will ensure the preservation of a large portion of retirement savings post-retirement.
Cosatu is of the view that no government has a right to unilaterally decide for workers, how and when to spend their retirement savings.
South Africans have been branded the worst savers in the world. Figures supplied by Statistics SA and Trading Economics show that the household saving rate in SA decreased to -2.30% in the third quarter of last year from -2.20% in the second quarter of the same year.
