Introduction South African companies are increasingly looking to global expansion to build their capabilities and expand their operations into foreign jurisdictions. Where South Africans serve on the boards of foreign companies and render services to foreign entities, they typically do so in terms of split employment contracts in respect of their services rendered within and outside of South Africa. In addition to the remuneration, they may also receive directors’ fees for services rendered to the boards. Their employment contracts with the foreign company and the requirement that such services must be rendered outside of South Africa, are essential to ensure that these foreign entities are effectively managed in the countries where they are registered, and not in South Africa.
Tag: International Tax
Krok heir faces R228m tax bill
Pretoria – Mark Krok, billionaire heir to an apartheid-era skin-lightening company, will be about R228m poorer if the SA Revenue Service (Sars) and the Australian Tax Office (ATO) have their way. The Sunday Times reported that Sars, on behalf of the ATO, is seeking an order to ring-fence Krok’s local assets – including a R37.5m mansion in Clifton, Cape Town, as well as vast chunks of pharmaceutical company Aspen and casino company Tsogo Sun. In 2006, Australia kicked off Operation Wickenby, targeting high-profile tax evaders – and their lawyers and accountants – who have set up shell companies and trusts in tax havens to evade the Australian tax office. Maxim Krok, Mark’s estranged half-brother, has also come under the spotlight. In 2010, the ATO unleashed investigators to scrutinise his tax records.
High Court Rejects Challenge of Exchange Control Ruling
Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth emigrated from the Republic in February 2001. Following his emigration, he made applications to transfer portions of his blocked funds from the Republic. In the second of these (in 2008) he was permitted to remit funds subject to a levy equal 10% of the amount remitted.
Status Overviews of International Treaties and Agreements Updated
Author: SARS Legal and Policy On the 7th of August 2013 SARS released updated overviews of various international treaties and agreements. To view the update on “Double taxation agreements & protocols” click here: To view the update on “Customs MAA’s” click here: To view the update on “Exchange of Information Programs” click here: To view the update on “One-Stop-Border-Post Agreements” click here:
Shuttleworth wins some, loses some in court
Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth’s bid to have South Africa’s entire exchange control system declared unconstitutional has failed. The North Gauteng High Court on Thursday dismissed Shuttleworth’s application to strike down the whole of section 9 of the Currency and Exchange Act and all of the Exchange Control Regulations as unconstitutional.
Binding private ruling on foreign asset-for-share transaction
On July 24 2013 the South African Revenue Service (SARS) released Binding Private Ruling 149, dealing with the disposal by a local company of foreign assets (shares) in exchange for shares in a foreign company. The applicant was a local company holding 100% of the issued shares in foreign Company A, which held the applicant’s various foreign investments.
Mutual assistance provisions in double tax agreement between United Kingdom and South Africa
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).
Connected Person Forex Rules To Provide Limited Protection
The current Income Tax rules that defer tax effects for related party debts and other exchange items are to be replaced with new, revised rules. The revised rules are generally narrower than the current rules and the replacement of the old rules will trigger both one-off and ongoing tax effects for many taxpayers, the majority of which, one suspects, are unaware of the consequences.
Gauntlett: Shuttleworth bid could be devastating for SA
Mark Shuttleworth’s bid to have SA’s exchange control declared unconstitutional could have a devastating effect on the country, says Jeremy Gauntlett. Jeremy Gauntlett SC, for the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), argued on Tuesday that the order sought by Shuttleworth in the high court in Pretoria was “the most radical court order imaginable”.
Fiscal residence – new Mauritius DTA provision modifies the test for companies
Recent news articles on international tax have focused heavily on the use by multinational companies of tax-friendly regimes through which to hold investments and to transact business. Heads of industry have been summoned to appear before legislators to explain their companies’ tax structures and transactions. Much has been made in the course of these discussions of the use of benefits afforded under tax treaties to mitigate exposure to tax. It is perhaps significant that these issues did not raise their head when economies were booming, and one may be forgiven for observing that there is an air of desperation in economies whose tax revenues have suffered from the economic downturn of the past few years and which now cast about for scapegoats.