16 January 2017

BUSA welcomes the Employment and Learnership Tax Incentives Act

Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) welcomes the passing of the Employment Tax Incentive Act (ETI) which will make significant strides in youth employment. In the first full year of its implementation, the ETI supported around 645 973 youth between the ages of 15-30.

President Jacob Zuma signed the Bill into law on 11 January 2017, under the Taxation Laws Amendment Act.

Last year, BUSA made submissions to Nedlac and Parliament based on qualitative and quantitative independent research which showed that the ETI has assisted hundreds of thousands of youth in gaining first time access to work experience, which significantly increases their future employment prospects. The research demonstrated that ETI supported employees are paid higher wages on average and have improved prospects for skills development and secure, long term employment.

In conjunction with the CEO Initiative, and with the support of these incentives, business will seek to make a significant contribution to growing youth employment through the Youth Employment Service (YES) scheme.

As business, and together with our social partners, we are committed to finding lasting solutions that will aim to achieve youth employment and inclusive growth, both critical ingredients that, if supported, will address our country’s triple challenge of unemployment, poverty and inequality.

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