Tag: Joon Chong

The Gauteng High Court recently dismissed the appeal of Unitrans Holdings (Unitrans) against the Tax Court judgment which had denied a tax deduction for interest incurred. The court found that the interest incurred was not closely connected to Unitrans’ business operations as an investment holding company and that the purpose of the interest was not to produce income but to further the interests of the subsidiaries.

Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana will deliver the 2024 Budget Review to Parliament next week as the South African economy faces a gloomy economic outlook. The economy is still recovering from the impact of COVID-19 and state capture.

Revisions to the draft legislation on the “two-pot” system for retirement funds were published on 9 June 2023, incorporating proposals mentioned in Chapter 4 of the 2023 Budget Review.

The National Budget delivered by South Africa’s Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, showed that government is making some significant financial commitments to restore Eskom to viability and maintain social grants. But with GDP growth projected at 1.4% on average from 2023 to 2025, and a potential tapering-off of the commodities boom over the medium term, how will government fund these commitments?

On 29 July 2022, National Treasury released the 2022 Draft Revenue Laws Amendment Bill for public comment until 29 August 2022 to introduce the 'two-pot' system for retirement savings that was flagged in the National Budget.

In a recent conference, National Treasury Acting DG Ismail Momoniat explained National Treasury’s views on the two-pot retirement system, governance of umbrella funds and changes to Regulation 28. Ismail Momoniat, Acting Director-General at National Treasury (NT), addressed the recent Pension Lawyers Association Virtual Conference in May 2022 with an update on retirement reform developments.

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has announced the deadline dates for filing income tax returns for the 2022 year of assessment as well as the details of those exempt from filing returns. On 3 June 2022, SARS will publish a notice in the Government Gazette specifying the taxpayers that do not need to file income tax returns for the 2022 year of assessment, and the deadlines for taxpayers that have to file an income tax return.

The latest move by SARS to require the withholding of PAYE from annuity payments at an 'Effective Tax Rate' as required in directives issued to payers of annuities may help some annuitants to plan their finances but may disadvantage others.

Is it possible for creditors to apply for the winding up of a South African branch of a foreign company (an external company), even if the foreign holding company remains solvent, since the two entities are legally one and the same entity?

SARS has published a draft model and proposed legislation to establish an advance pricing agreement programme and is inviting comments on it by the end of January.