Tax and other incentives to small, medium, micro enterprises in South Africa.

Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2004.The promotion of Small, Medium and Micro enterprises (SMMEs) has been identified as key strategy of government for employment creation and income generation. For some time now small business owners had to fend for themselves. Small business was neglected and was in the main ignored by government. Since the 1994 democratic process the challenge for the new order has been to create an enabling environment for the small business sector of the economy. The historical neglect and the consequent policy vacuum has had to be re assessed. To this end the 1995 White Paper on a National Strategy for the development and Promotion of Small Business in South Africa was the first major effort by government to design a policy framework targeting the small business sector. The promulgation of the Small Business Act in 1996 and the establishment of the Ntsika Enterprise Promotion agency under the aegis of the Department of Trade and Industry has attempted to provide direction and facilitate the provision of Non Financial support to the Small Business Sector. Various incentive schemes have been developed and put into operation together with a range of tax incentives to help promote Small Business. Eight years have passed since the promulgation of the Small Business Act and the perception that finance for SMMEs has been the greatest stumbling block to development. However the failure of the vast numbers of micro lending agencies have revealed that low levels of entrepreneurship has led to their demise. The provision of meaningful positive incentives need to be measured and their effectiveness needs to be tested. This study will try and identify the incentives available