The poultry industry took its drive for VAT-free chicken to parliament last week.
The campaign promotes the removal of South Africa’s 15% value added tax (VAT) from the chicken portions most consumed by low-income households.
The issue was raised during a joint meeting of parliament’s standing committee on finance and the select committee on finance. The committees were briefed by lawyers for the SA Poultry Association (SAPA). Details were set out in a written submission by SAPA’s Izaak Breitenbach.
Both President Cyril Ramaphosa and finance minister Enoch Godongwana had recognised the critical need to mitigate the pressures faced by vulnerable, low-income households, Breitenbach wrote.
“Despite this, we have not seen any tangible outcomes in the 2026 Budget, other than a modest increase in government grants that fails to keep pace with inflationary pressures on essential food items.”
Breitenbach expressed concern that the 2026 budget had failed to expand the list of basic food items on which no VAT was charged, a process known as zero-rating.
“This omission is particularly troubling given the continued and well-documented financial pressures facing vulnerable households across the country, and the persistent challenge of food insecurity and malnutrition among low-income communities.”
Breitenbach urged the committees to give “serious and urgent consideration” to expanding the list of zero-rated food items. He proposed the removal of VAT from frozen chicken meat on the bone, and from fresh and frozen chicken offal, including livers, feet, and heads.
The only animal protein on the VAT-free list was tinned pilchards. However, chicken was the animal protein most consumed by lower-income households.
Zero-rating chicken would deliver three distinct benefits, Breitenbach said.
- It would provide immediate and measurable financial relief to households already purchasing chicken
- It would improve access to essential animal meat-source protein for households currently unable to afford adequate quantities, and
- It would be a direct intervention against malnutrition and child stunting.
“The zero rating of chicken is therefore a precisely targeted instrument that will disproportionately benefit poor and low-income households who are reliant on chicken as their primary source of animal protein,” Breitenbach concluded.
