Author: Fiona Forde (Financial Mail) IN an anaemic economy, SA’s treasury officials are looking for ways to draw in more revenue, and offshore bank accounts are prominent targets. One likely route is an overhaul of the voluntary disclosure programme (VDP) to collect tax owed. An announcement could be made in the budget speech next month. There has been a sense among officials for some time that not enough is being done to rope in tax evaders and avoiders, particularly those with vast wealth stashed overseas.
Author: Nyasha Musviba
The tax risks of cross-border employment
Author: Shohana Mohan (KPMG) The issues relating to the international hiring out of labour, personal tax considerations and what to look out for when structuring contractual arrangements. The world has become increasingly globalised, and cross-border mobilisation is high on the agenda for many countries and companies. Any multi-national company worth its salt has a global mobility policy framework in place, which sets out the parameters for cross-border employment.
Pravin Gordhan: We will win the trust of South Africans
Author: Sarah Evans (Mail & Guardian) In his first press conference since being reappointed finance minister, Gordhan has pledged to ensure “sound fiscal management”. The newly appointed minister of finance, Pravin Gordhan, sought to reassure the country and nervous investors on Monday in a press conference where he promised that “sound fiscal management” would be the ministry’s priority. Gordhan was appointed to the position, which he previously held from May 2009 to March 2014, in a surprise announcement on Sunday night.
SARS explains 2015 Tax Administration Amendments
Author: Lorys Charalambous (Tax-News.com) On December 17, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) issued an explanatory memorandum on the 2015 Tax Administration Laws Amendment Bill (TALAB). In particular, the memorandum looks at the TALAB provisions giving effect to the collection of information from South African financial institutions (FIs), and the associated obligation on the FIs to register with SARS regarding the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the United States that was signed in July last year.
Changes that are Likely to Impact your Payroll
The much-anticipated legislation to give effect to the tax harmonisation reforms of retirement funds has finally been signed into law by the President. The changes will be implemented with effect from 1 March 2016, as was anticipated prior the official publication of the legislation in the Government Gazette on 8 January 2016. Below is a short summary highlighting certain aspects of the changes:
Gordhan halts Sars plans to ‘assess situation’
Author: Matthew le Cordeur (News24). Cape Town – Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in December instructed the SA Revenue Service (Sars) to halt its extensive restructuring plans, so he could assess the situation before allowing the process to continue. Treasury spokesperson Phumza Macanda told Fin24 on Thursday that Gordhan asked Sars commissioner Tom Moyane at a meeting in December to suspend his ambitious plans. “He met briefly with Sars management in December and yes, he asked that major initiatives be put on hold until he’s had time to assess the situation fully,” she said. “He is yet to be brought up to speed so there haven’t been any major decisions as yet,” she said.
Value-Added Tax – Even More Reason to Come Clean
Author: Erich Bell, Senior Tax Consultant at BDO South Africa. The VAT Act requires VAT to be levied by a vendor on the supply of goods or services in the course or furtherance of an enterprise carried on by the vendor. A vendor is any person who is or is required to be registered in terms of the VAT Act. The fact that a vendor includes any person that is required to be registered makes it clear that a person’s liability for VAT is not dependent on whether the person is in fact registered as a vendor but rather whether the person is required to be registered as a vendor.
The Valuation of Assets by Taxpayers – Lessons from Stepney Investments
Author: Esther van Schalkwyk, Tax Consultant at BDO South Africa. The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) recently handed down judgment in CSARS v Stepney Investments (Pty) Ltd in which it confirmed that valuations are not to be taken lightly by taxpayers. Stepney disposed of a pre-valuation date asset of 4.37% of the shares it held in Emanzini Leisure Resorts (Pty) Ltd. Stepney elected to use the market value of the shares on the valuation date as the method of determining the value as at 1 October 2001.
Think carefully before transferring your Retirement Annuities
Author: Lisa Griffith, an Associate Director at BDO Wealth Advisers. Paying penalties when you choose to transfer your retirement annuities has been a thorny issue for investors in RA’s for some time. The lure of a unit trust based retirement annuity, or concerns about mediocre performance, may prompt investors into switching to a new generation product. However, this process will not always result in the investor being in an improved position and so it may ultimately not be prudent to transfer after all.
Residential property and VAT
Author: Ben Strauss. Until recently it was smaller investors who bought and let residential property. But nowadays even listed Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are building, buying and letting large portfolios of residential property. No doubt the investors are looking to satisfy the demand for residential property, and to realise better yields than may be achieved in commercial property. The value-added tax (VAT) rules on the building, buying, letting and selling of residential properties are not simple. It is worthwhile recapping some of the general principles that apply.