The 2026 MTBPS, tabled on 21 October, changed no tax rates.
What it said, and did not say, on the ETI, Section 12H, PAYE and the skills levy, plus the temporary fuel levy relief from 4 November.
The Minister of Finance tabled the **2026 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS)** in Parliament on **21 October 2026**. For employers the short version is that **no tax rate changed**: the statement revises the revenue estimates and sets the spending framework, and the numbers that touch payroll wait for the February 2027 Budget. This page sets out what the statement said, and did not say, on the items employers were watching. > **Key facts (as at 23 October 2026)** > - Tabled **21 October 2026** (MTBPS 2026, RP324/2026, National Treasury). > - **No change** to personal income tax, company tax or VAT rates; only the collection estimates are revised. Gross tax revenue for 2026/27 is revised up by R17.1 billion to R2 144.0 billion (MTBPS, p20, Table 3.1). > - **Fuel levy relief:** diesel down R3 a litre and petrol down R1.50 a litre from **4 November to 1 December 2026**, then diesel down R1.50 and petrol down R1 until **5 January 2027** (Minister's speech, p9). > - The Employment Tax Incentive and the Section 12H learnership allowance are **not addressed** in the statement's policy text or the speech. > - Tax rates and thresholds for 2027/28 are set in the **February 2027 Budget**. > - The **Taxation Laws Amendment Bill [B32-2026]** and the Rates Bill were introduced in Parliament on the same day; they are the place to check what the law itself now says. ## What the MTBPS Decides, and What It Does Not The MTBPS is the mid-year statement of government's fiscal position. It updates the economic outlook, revises the revenue and expenditure estimates for the current year, and sets the spending framework for the next three years. It does not change tax rates: PAYE tables, rebates and thresholds, the VAT rate and the limits on incentives are announced in the February Budget and enacted afterwards. The 2026 statement kept to that line. ## What It Said on the Items Employers Were Watching **Tax rates and the revenue outlook.** The statement revises collections, not rates. Gross tax revenue for 2026/27 is up R17.1 billion on the February estimate, to R2 144.0 billion, and personal income tax growth was, in the statement's words, "driven largely by salary increases in the finance and public sectors despite lower employment" (p20). Revenue is projected to rise from R2.14 trillion in 2026/27 to R2.53 trillion in 2029/30, with tax at 26.4 rising to 26.8 per cent of GDP (p22). The consolidated deficit is projected to narrow from 3.9 per cent of GDP in 2026/27 to 2.5 per cent in 2029/30 (p4, p19). **The Employment Tax Incentive (ETI).** The statement's policy text does not mention it; it appears only as a glossary definition (p86). There is no change, extension or new figure. The incentive remains legislated to 28 February 2029 (SARS), and our [ETI calculation guide](https://atlan.co.za/news/eti-calculation-2026-worked-examples) carries the current bands. **Section 12H.** The learnership allowance is not mentioned in the statement or the speech. It still covers only learnership agreements entered into before 1 April 2027 (Taxation Laws Amendment Act 42 of 2024). Whether it is extended is a question for the February Budget and the tax bills, not the MTBPS. The current position is in our [Section 12H guide](https://atlan.co.za/news/section-12h-learnership-allowance). **PAYE tables and thresholds.** Nothing changed in October, as expected. The revised revenue outlook is the backdrop to what February decides. **The skills levy.** The SDL rate is set in the Skills Development Levies Act and does not move with the Budget. The statement projects levy receipts of about R27.4 billion in 2026/27, rising to about R32.6 billion in 2029/30, on private-sector wage bill growth of 4.6 to 6.1 per cent a year (p77, Table C.6), and revises the 2026/27 figure for the levy and the SETAs down by R287 million (p81, Table C.11). It also says government "will pool available surpluses within the skills development system" to manage funding risks at NSFAS (p54). For employers that is a line to watch: it does not change what you pay, but it may affect what the skills system has left to fund. **Fuel.** The one rate that moves for now is the temporary fuel levy relief in the speech (see the key facts). Employers running vehicles, or paying travel allowances against fuel costs, will see it from 4 November. ## What Is Still Open - **The Taxation Laws Amendment Bill [B32-2026]** and the Rates Bill were introduced in the National Assembly on 21 October, after the August draft's comment period. We have not yet read them, so this page does not yet say whether either bill touches the ETI or Section 12H. We will update it once we have. - **The February 2027 Budget** sets the 2027/28 tables, rebates and thresholds, and is where any extension of Section 12H would be announced. - The October compliance dates are unchanged, including the interim EMP501 reconciliation by 31 October 2026 (see our [EMP501 interim guide](https://atlan.co.za/news/emp501-interim-r...