Tax rebates fail to entice corporate sector
Kabelo Boranabi | Friday October 26, 2018 12:42
Speaking at the Mascom Top 8 launch this week, the BNSC chairperson Solly Reikeletseng said the BURS tax rebate has proven to be unhelpful to the sporting codes with the private sector continuing to shun the sports industry.
According to the Income Tax Act, Section 51 companies or individuals who make donations to sports clubs or associations are entitled to a tax rebate.
However, Reikeletseng said the tax rebate policy has not borne fruit while the sports industry continues to suffer financially hence the need for the policy to be amended. He said the move would encourage more companies to invest in sports.
“We have to continue advocating for more funding from the private sector. It is a big challenge for most sporting codes to access funding, but one of the things we have been looking at for the past years is tax rebate policy which is not very helpful to sponsors,” he said.
“That is one of the things we need to push accordingly. We have had a debate at one point in Palapye about this very issue and we invited BURS to come and interpret the policy for us and I can assure you they were at pains also, just to go through the policy and show us the benefit of that policy.” Reikeletseng also said sport has the potential to play a big role in the development of the country, but could be hampered by the stringent regulations that have kept potential sponsors away.
“When Mascom (or any other company) puts in P1.3 million, it is not that P1.3 million only. There are also associated costs but the benefit is not only for the teams, someone is benefiting from making the kits, from selling food outside the stadium or stadium branding. The benefit chain is very long, there is a lot happening within the economy. So we shouldn’t shy away from using our power as sports people and ask for what is relevant and necessary for us to move on.”
“It’s only when we talk about these issues openly that things change. Otherwise there is no point for a lot of you to contribute and you still see this injustice happening around us and we don’t say anything about it,” Reikeletseng said.
In the past years, different sporting codes have failed to raise funds for their major events amongst them the 2017 Netball Youth World Cup.
The organisers of the event managed to raise just P8 million from the private sector, P22 million short of the target while the Botswana Football Association relinquished the rights to host this year’s COSAFA Cup after failing to raise 25% of the tournament’s budget as per the requirements. Other codes have in the past failed to send teams to regional and international competitions due to lack of funds.