Finance Relief for Pensioners

Finance relief for pensioners has recently increased due to the fact that the city of Johannesburg has recently increased the pensioners income rebate level. Before July 2011, pensioners were entitled to a R5300 income rebate on the lower levels and R9600 on the upper level, however this has now increased to R5600 for the lower level and R10300 for the higher income.

Now you may be wondering exactly what this means?  Well firstly pensioners earning less than R5600 will receive a 100 percent rebate on property and those earning R5600 to R10300 will receive a 50 percent rates rebate. What is more is that if you are a pensioner on a national security grant will receive a 100 percent rates rebate. The reason for this increase says Geoffrey Makhubo, a member of the mayoral committee, is because the city has realized that pensioners are faced with financial difficulties and as a result they felt that they needed to provide them with some much needed relief. The cap for property rebates in Johannesburg is that of R1.5 million.

However, should you not live in the city of Johannesburg and you are wondering why there is no finance relief for pensioners in your city, then have no fear. The current pensioner rebate in the eThekwinin municipality currently stands at R210 a month. Pensioners in the eThekwini municipality who own properties valued R3 million were previously not granted rebates for their properties. It was therefore decided to increase the cap to include R3million homes, This however has caused a major uproar as a report shows that pensioners who lived in homes valued at less than R2 million were in “greater need of assistance”.

However, the eThekwini municipality has decided to stick to the cap proposed being that of R3 million as they feel that should they stick to the R2 million cap, many of the pensioners in the municipality would have been negativley affected.

Finance Relief for Pensioners – How to Apply

If you are a pensioner and you are wondering how you apply for such a rebate, then there are a few simple steps that you need to follow.

Firstly, in order to qualify:

1. You need to fall within the cap as set by your municipality
2. You must be property owners and live in the property for which the rates rebate is applied

In order to apply, you need the following:

1. Certified copy of your South African identification document
2. Certified copy of your pension card
3. Proof of income such as a bank statement
4. Certified application form by Commissioner of Oaths.

If you are a pensioner and you feel that you need a property rebate in order to help you with your monthly expenses and you qualify, then why not apply through your municipality for a property rebate. You have worked for years and have served the country as a tax-paying citizen for many, many years. It is therefore you turn to get something back, even if it is a few hundred rands a month. We have all heard those horrible tales of pensioners having to live in squalor due to the fact that their pension funds have run out and they have had to sell their properties. This property rebate may not seem like a lot of money but it does provide pensioners with some much-needed relief.

There is no shame in getting some help from the government seeing as you have helped build the economy, which they manage for many decades before you retire. That extra few hundred rand a month could be the difference between surviving and losing everything so why not visit your local city website and see where you can apply.