Tax

A major concern on the minds of business and the public in general is how tax revenue collections are performing and whether we can expect further tax increases in the 2019 Budget.

Can SARS refuse to pay a VAT refund on grounds that income tax is due? This is the question which the court had to address in Top Watch (Pty) Ltd v CSARS.

National Treasury's proposal in the draft 2018 Taxation Laws Amendment Bill (2018 draft TLAB) to remove the taxable benefit concerning low or interest free loans granted to low-income employees for low-cost housing (the Proposed Amendment) was discussed on Day 2 of the recent National Treasury Workshop on the 2018 draft TLAB (Tax Workshop).

Incorrect information and advice from tax practitioners, or in some cases South African Revenue Service (SARS) officials, has resulted in the misunderstanding of complex South African expatriate tax legislation, which has landed many South African in deep water with SARS.

Statistics South Africa (StatSA) released the Community Survey in 2016 noting that a total of 94,760 South Africans have emigrated between 2006 and 2016. A more recent study performed by the Pew Research Centre in February 2018 notes that 900,000 people born in South Africa were living abroad for one year or longer. The top three destinations being United Kingdom, Australia and United States.

There have been a number of binding private rulings providing for the deductibility of contributions made by employer companies to share incentive trusts for the purpose of acquiring shares in the former.

The general principle is that South African resident individuals who have settled offshore trusts are taxed on the income and capital gains of that trust (or its underlying subsidiary) in terms of the Income Tax Act, 1962 (the Act).  

It is no secret that tax systems around the world are struggling to keep pace with the digitisation of commerce and South Africa too, after an initially pro-active stance towards taxing e-commerce, was arguably starting to fall behind in this 'new frontier for VAT'.

Multinationals with South African group companies are required to adhere to South Africa’s transfer pricing legislation as found in section 31 of the Income Tax Act, 58 of 1962, which provisions in very simple terms require cross-border transactions (which include loans) to be conducted on an arm’s length basis.

The Draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill has proposed an amendment in order to address the tax leakage through a double dip in the claiming of the medical scheme fees tax credit.