Setting your business up for expansion
When businesses expand, they often look beyond national borders. With such an expansion, there are several added advantages for establishing a holding company, which then owns the various group operating companies in different jurisdictions. Various aspects contribute to considering an ideal holding company location, and a brief discussion is outlined below. Political stability Political instability […]
Transferring assets from persons to companies
Many business transactions are concluded in terms of section 42 of the Income Tax Act. This section essentially allows a transfer of an asset by a person to a company, in exchange for equity shares in that company, allowing for a tax neutral transaction.The South African Revenue Service has recently issued Binding Private Ruling 339, […]
Usufructs and tax consequences
A usufruct is a limited real right in property. The usufruct construct takes the form of a common-law personal servitude, which, as a limited real right, grants the holder (the usufructuary) the right to use someone else’s property, including the fruits. Typical examples include where someone is granted the right to use a house, or […]
2019 Tax legislative amendment: Retirement funds
The 2019 tax legislation amendment cycle commenced on 25 June, when National Treasury issued the initial batch of the Draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill which covers specific provisions that require further consultation. National Treasury will be publishing the full text of the 2019 Draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill for public comment in mid-July 2019. One […]
Tax Season 2019 – What to expect
SARS recently released two media statements, in which it notes several improvements made to eFiling for the 2019 tax season, including the issue of customised notices indicating specific documents required in the event of an audit or verification and a simulated outcome issued before a taxpayer has filed. What is the tax season? Tax season […]
Is there tax on gift cards?
The Cape Town Tax Court delivered a judgement on 17 April 2019 on the timing of income tax in relation to gift cards issued by a retailer.[1] Here, the taxpayer “sold” gift cards to its customers to be redeemed at any of the taxpayer’s stores. The question under consideration was whether the revenue from the […]
The Carbon Tax Act explained
What It Is and How It Will Help Us Sustain the Future “Global warming”, “greenhouse effect”, “carbon emissions” – since Al Gore’s 2006 Nobel Peace Prize-winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, some have found these words popping up around every corner. For others, these concepts have been a part of dialogue years before Leonardo DiCaprio’s voice […]
2018: A year in tax
As 2018 has come to an end, we reflect on some of the significant highlights (and lowlights) of the 2018 tax year. Davis Tax Committee concludes its work The Davis Tax Committee (DTC) was appointed by the Minister of Finance in 2013, to inquire into the role of the tax system in the promotion of […]
Turnover tax deregistration
The Sixth Schedule of the Income Tax Act[1] details the workings of the turnover tax system applicable to micro-businesses. Turnover tax is an optional system (with preferential tax rates) and is essentially a simplified tax system that is available for micro-businesses (businesses with a qualifying turnover of R1 million or less). The Sixth Schedule deals […]
Different interest rates in tax
The Income Tax Act[1] contains definitions for various interest rates. These interest rates serve as the basis for interest calculations in income tax in different circumstances and can broadly be categorised into three main areas. Knowing the difference between these different types of interest rates could have a material impact on the amount of interest […]