Author: Nyasha Musviba

Tax Admistration Act – Jurisdiction of the courts

Nyasha Musviba

When litigating against SARS, it is of critical importance that the taxpayer institute proceedings in the proper forum. In this regard, an important question arises as to which issues are justiciable in the Tax Court and which in the High Court. A wrong decision by the taxpayer and his advisers may have the consequence that time limits to bring proceedings in the correct court have expired, and that the taxpayer is left without a remedy.

Tax Adminstration Act No 28 of 2011 – Tax Litigation

Nyasha Musviba

Tax litigators will now have to consider, inter alia, the impact of certain provisions under the Tax Administration Act No. 28 of 2011 (the TAA) as amended by the Tax Administration Laws Amendment Act No. 21 of 2012 on the doctrine of legal professional privilege and a recent judgment reflecting the view of a court with regards to the adherence to the rules of the Tax Court by the South African Revenue Service (SARS).

International Tax – Mutual Assistance between South Africa and UK DTA

Nyasha Musviba

In the recent case of Ben Nevis (Holdings) Limited & Metlika Trading Limited v The Commissioners for HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) [2013] EWCA, the Court of Appeal of England and Wales considered the interpretation of the mutual assistance provisions in the double tax agreement (DTA) between the United Kingdom (UK) and South Africa (SA).

Binding Ruling – BPR 143 – Headquarter company

Nyasha Musviba

Binding Private Ruling 143, dated 2 May 2013, issued in terms of section 76Q of the Income Tax Act No. 58 of 1962 (the Act), deals with whether certain preference shares held by the applicant (a public company incorporated and resident in South Africa) qualify as equity shares in the context of the definition of headquarter company in section 1 of the Act.

Carbon Tax – Preparing for the tax

Nyasha Musviba

The carbon tax to be introduced on 1 January 2015 is the biggest change to the South African tax landscape since the introduction of capital gains tax in 2001. Households and businesses will all be affected to some extent. The time from now until January 2015 is when businesses have to come to terms with, and devise a strategy for, the impact that a carbon tax may have on their operations.

Carbon Tax – Key design features

Nyasha Musviba

On 27 February 2013 the Minister of Finance announced that a carbon tax will be introduced with effect from 1 January 2015. He also announced that a carbon tax policy paper would be published that will contain the details for the carbon tax. That policy paper was published on 2 May 2013. This article contains the key design features of the carbon tax as set out in the policy paper.

South Africa Tax Statistics 2013

Nyasha Musviba

Author: SARS Legal and Policy The National Treasury and SARS jointly publish tax statistics annually. These aggregated statistics are compiled from SARS’s registers of taxpayers and from tax returns. These statistics complement other published social and economic data. The statistics are finding wide use within government, business, academia and non-governmental organisations.

Applications For Winding Up Pending Objection Or Appeal

Nyasha Musviba

Author: Heinrich Louw (CliffeDekkerHofmeyr) An interesting judgment was handed down in the North Gauteng High Court on 3 October 2013 in the matter of Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service v Miles Plant Hire (Pty) Ltd (case no 23533/2013). Miles Plant Hire (Pty) Ltd (taxpayer) was involved in a dispute with the South African Revenue Service (SARS) in terms of which an appeal was pending.