Investors in shares are able to defer capital gains tax (CGT) using unit trusts. The deferral works as follows: Section 42 of the Income Tax Act, No 58 of 1962 (IT Act) allows a taxpayer to transfer listed shares to a company free of immediate tax consequences if certain requirements are met. One requirement is that the shares must be transferred in exchange for “equity shares” in the transferee company. If the requirements are met the taxpayer suffers no CGT or securities transfer tax (STT) in relation to the shares transferred. The taxpayer must account for CGT in future when it disposes of the equity shares it has acquired in exchange for the assets.
Author: Nyasha Musviba
Alas, sometimes you can’t appeal
Author: Louis Botha (Cliffe Dekker). A certain question has been the subject of a number of recent court cases: Is an interim order or a decision which does not dispose finally of a case appealable? The Constitutional Court recently had to answer this question in two separate cases – one involving the changing of street names in Tshwane and the other involving the provisions of the National Credit Act, No 34 of 2005. The issue has now also reared its head within a tax context in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA). In Wingate-Pearse v CSARS (830/2015) [2016] ZASCA 109 (1 September 2016), a taxpayer wanted to appeal, among other things, the Tax Court’s decision regarding the onus of proof and the duty to commence leading evidence.
Tax and Exchange Control Alert – 7 October 2016
This week’s selected highlight in the Customs and Excise environment: Judgment was handed down by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in the matter of CSARS v Van der Merwe NO (598/2015) [2016] ZASCA 138 on 29 September 2016. A brief background of the case is as follows: a party (AA) imported certain goods into a bonded warehouse and as such deferred payment of duty and value-added tax (VAT) until clearance for home consumption. Subsequently, AA was to be wound up, and the liquidators demanded that the goods in the bonded warehouse be delivered to them without payment of duty and VAT in order for the liquidation process to continue (ie sale of the goods, share of the proceeds between the creditors, and so on). The South African Revenue Service (SARS) was of the view that the duty and VAT first had to be paid before delivery of the goods Read More …
Taxable benefits provided to expatriate employees seconded in South Africa
Author: Jerome Brink. The nature of the business of many multinational companies requires them to send their employees to other countries across the globe in order to, among other things, manage and assist with special projects, implement firm-wide systems and ensure a standard level of quality in operations. Such seconded employees are often subject to tax in their host country, yet remain tax residents in their home country.
A step in the right direction: small business corporations regime extended to personal liability companies
Authors: Gigi Nyanin and Mark Morgan. On 8 July 2016, National Treasury (Treasury) released a draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill (TLAB) and specific draft regulations related thereto, all of which aim to give effect to the various tax proposals announced in the 2016 National Budget Speech. One of these proposals relates to the extension of the small business corporations (SBCs) tax regime to personal liability companies (PLCs).
The donations tax consequences of a transaction to introduce a BEE shareholder into a group
On 19 October 2016, the South African Revenue Services (SARS) issued a binding private ruling (BPR 253) which deals with the donations tax consequences in respect of a transaction which has the effect of introducing a Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) shareholder into a group of companies in order to benefit all the entities within the group in respect of their BEE scorecard ratings and increase the profitability of the Applicant (X), a South African resident company.
Amendments to the Special Voluntary Disclosure Programme
Author: Mareli Treurnicht. On 24 February 2016 the Minister of Finance announced the Special Voluntary Disclosure Programme (SVDP) as part of the 2016 Budget Speech. On the same date, the draft Rates and Monetary Amounts and Amendment of Revenue Laws Bill (First Draft Revenue Laws Bill) and the draft Rates and Monetary Amounts and Amendment of Revenue Laws (Administration) Bill were released. These bills contained the proposed provisions in respect of the SVDP. Following input from the public, National Treasury released the amended draft Rates and Monetary Amounts and Amendment of Revenue Laws Bill (Second Draft Revenue Laws Bill) and the amended draft Rates and Monetary Amounts and Amendment of Revenue Laws (Administration) Bill (Second Draft Revenue Laws Administration Bill) on 19 July 2016. An Explanatory Memorandum and a media statement on the SVDP accompanied these bills.
Value-added tax: SARS takes away on take-away
Author: Ben Strauss. Recently the Cape Tax Court handed down an important judgment about value-added tax (VAT). The taxpayer (D) was a registered VAT vendor. It operated a foods delivery business. D contracted with food outlets and restaurants to advertise their menus in booklets which D had printed and delivered to households. Customers who wished to place orders for food phoned an operator at D’s premises who took the orders. D’s staff would then pass the details of the order to the relevant food outlet and despatch a driver to collect and pay for the food that had been ordered. The driver then delivered the food to the customer. D’s branding was on the drivers’ uniforms.
Good news for employers: increase in thresholds for exemption of employer-provided bursaries
On 8 July 2016, the National Treasury (Treasury) released the draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill 2016 (TLAB). The TLAB aims to give effect to the various tax proposals announced in the 2016 National Budget. By way of background, s10(1)(q) of the Income Tax Act, No 58 of 1962 (Act) exempts from taxable income, any “bona fide” scholarship or bursary granted to assist or enable any person to study at a recognised educational or research institution. However, if such scholarship or bursary has been granted by an employer to an employee or relative of such employee, the exemption will not apply:
Where there’s smoke there’s fire (and carbon tax) – National Treasury releases the Draft Regulations: Carbon Offsets
In November 2015, the Draft Carbon Tax Bill (Draft Bill) was published by National Treasury, setting out the framework within which carbon tax would be levied. We reported on the main tenets of the Draft Bill in our Tax Alert of 20 November 2015 (Carbon tax in South Africa). On 20 June 2016, flesh was given to this framework with the release of the Draft Regulations: Carbon Offsets (Draft Regulations), which were published in terms of clause 20(b) of the Draft Bill. The Explanatory Note for the Draft Regulations on Carbon Offset (Explanatory Note) was released at the same time. Section 4 of the Draft Bill states that carbon tax will be levied in respect of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting from: