In order to provide the necessary legislative amendments required to implement the tax proposals that were announced in the 2015 National Budget on 25 February 2015, the National Treasury (Treasury) published the 2015 Draft Tax Administration Laws Amendment Bill (TALAB) on 22 July 2015 for public comment. One of the… – Continue reading
In its annual survey of the South African economy, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has recommended measures to increase tax revenue and meet the country’s requirement for higher public spending on infrastructure and welfare. At the presentation of the survey, OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria said that “more… – Continue reading
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has urged SA to increase taxes on the wealthy, tighten up on corporate and personal tax allowances and broaden the valued-added tax (VAT) base in order to raise the resources it will need to fund development, reports Business Day Live. The OECD’s… – Continue reading
Most South Africans think the prospect of working and living in a foreign country is an exciting adventure. However, the ins and outs of your tax affairs can be enough to make one less adventurous. The first thing to establish is what your “tax residency status” is. This is easier… – Continue reading
HE Voluntary Disclosure Programme introduced in 2012 to encourage taxpayers to regularise their affairs has some flaws that need addressing to be able to expose the real amount of money that has left SA illegally. Tax experts warn that the process in SA is relatively expensive, there are uncertainties because… – Continue reading
The Economic Freedom Fighters condemns the undue police protection that the imperialist multinational corporation, British American Tobacco (BAT), enjoys. It has been reported that this cigarette company which controls 80% of the tobacco industry in South Africa has been given members of the police elite squad, the Tactical Response Team,… – Continue reading
Investing in hard currency has become much easier. CAPE TOWN – For years, South Africans have been used to the idea of exchange controls. Since the 1960s, they have been something we have learnt to live with. However this year’s national budget really put an end to them as far… – Continue reading
The rising exchange of information between countries is also leading to the disclosure of more details about these taxpayers’ affairs. Along with other countries, SA is paying closer attention to its residents’ cross-border activities. But while compliance is necessary, industry experts warn that overly aggressive tax enforcement in SA could… – Continue reading
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) said it would like to see prison sentences imposed on business executives who moved cash to tax havens – where the rate of taxation is lower than in South Africa – “to deal decisively with transfer pricing and illicit financial flows”. This is one of… – Continue reading
IN A range of far-reaching proposals, the Davis tax committee has rejected a wealth tax, but proposed a drastic overhaul of trusts to increase tax revenue. Trust income — which is vested and taxed in the hands of beneficiaries — is set to fall away, while trusts should be taxed… – Continue reading
Prices for smartphone applications sold in South Korea through Google and Apple platforms rose 10 percent starting this month, industry sources said Friday, as the government started imposing taxes on overseas-based open markets. According to the sources, U.S. tech giants Google Inc. and Apple Inc. rolled out new price policies… – Continue reading
On 4 June, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”) published a discussion draft on “hard-to-value-intangibles” in terms of which the OECD proposes revising its Transfer Pricing Guidelines. In particular, it is proposed that tax authorities will be allowed to use ex post “evidence”, (i.e. hindsight), to assess the… – Continue reading
Treaty developments Following last month’s report that the Mauritius/South Africa double tax treaty had been ratified in Mauritius, the treaty has now come into force on 28 May 2015. The new Hong Kong/South Africa double tax treaty, which was signed last year, has been ratified in Hong Kong on 3… – Continue reading
Agreement with Mauritius to be renegotiated. National Treasury says the abuse of double tax agreements by multinational companies is the main reason why the agreement with Mauritius has been renegotiated. National Treasury head of tax and financial sector policy Ismail Momoniat says companies have often used dual tax residence structures… – Continue reading
Around 700 people have applied for Malta’s ‘cash-for-passports’ scheme, described as on the most popular schemes run by Henley & Partners, their vice-chairman Andrew Taylor said during a radio interview on a South African radio station, reports the Maltese Independent. Extolling the virtues of the scheme, Mr Taylor said that… – Continue reading
Cape Town-based think tank the Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC) is gearing up for an international campaign to have Lonmin’s mining licence revoked due to a number of reasons. These include the events related to the Marikana massacre during a strike by Lonmin workers and alleged tax evasion by… – Continue reading
The MoU is designed to give some insight into the process that will be adopted by the fiscal authorities of the two countries when assessing the tax residence of a ‘person’. International investors including South African businesses already use Mauritius as their base for their growth on the continent, but… – Continue reading
AMidst the continued decline in the country’s Southern African Customs Union (SACU) receipts, government has decided to enhance domestic revenue which will see the introduction of new taxes and a possibility of increasing some. Minister of Finance Martin Dlamini speaking during breakfast meeting hosted by the Federation of Swaziland Employers… – Continue reading
A new campaign to stop Africa from ‘bleeding’ was launched on Thursday in Nairobi by the Tax Justice Network-Africa (TJN-A), a coalition of researchers and activists focused on the harmful impacts of tax avoidance, tax competition and tax havens. “If we can stop Africa from losing resources in illicit outflows,… – Continue reading
A new treaty makes it more difficult for companies to take advantage of tax loopholes to avoid their financial obligations. Globally, initiatives are afoot to close tax loopholes and South Africa is one of the frontrunners – its new treaty with Mauritius removes the allure for tax-shy corporates doing business… – Continue reading
Qatar’s Emir, HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, ratified a draft agreement on avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income between Qatar and South Africa as well as its attached draft protocol, which were signed in Pretoria on March 6, 2015…. – Continue reading
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has extended its Third Party Business Requirement Specification (BRS) for data submissions via Direct Data Flow (DDF) to include withholding tax on interest and tax-free savings and investments. The extension will be available for year-end data submissions due on May 31, 2016 (for the… – Continue reading
LONDON — When British trader Navinder Singh Sarao planned to raise money to launch a new investment fund in 2010, he was put in touch with David Cosgrove, an Irishman who had set up dozens of such funds in offshore tax havens. The NAV Sarao Milking Markets Fund was soon… – Continue reading
FATCA – Which Countries Are In And Out The controversial US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) law is set to start from July 1, 2014, so with less than 21 days to go, here’s a look at which countries are in and who is outside of the tax network…. – Continue reading
Pretoria — Government has gazetted the South Africa-Mauritius tax treaty which came into force at the end of May, said National Treasury. “This new treaty reflects changes in the tax policies of the two countries and is in line with international best practices to deal with tax abuse as outlined… – Continue reading
International tax rules will soon change, but companies’ behaviour may change sooner. There will soon be fewer places for multinational companies and ultra-rich individuals to squirrel away money. In November leaders of the G20 are expected to adopt a full range of measures to curb the practices of base erosion… – Continue reading
BERN, Switzerland – Reeling from an American federal investigation of bribery in soccer, FIFA was put under more pressure Wednesday as the scale of a separate Swiss investigation of suspected money laundering was revealed. Banks in Switzerland have flagged up 53 possible acts of money-laundering that could be linked to… – Continue reading
A disgraced senior FIFA official has agreed to forfeit 50 per cent of the $1 million he had stashed away in a secret CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (Bahamas) account, court documents have revealed. The plea agreement between the US federal authorities and Charles (Chuck) Blazer, which was unsealed late on… – Continue reading
THE new double-tax treaty between SA and Mauritius is set to come into force in January next year, following a controversial renegotiation to better protect the South African tax base. However, tax experts have warned that sweeping changes to the treaty, including withholding taxes for interest (10%) and royalties (5%)… – Continue reading
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. owns more than $76 billion of assets through a web of units in offshore tax havens around the world, though you wouldn’t know it from reading the giant retailer’s annual report. A new study has found Wal-Mart has at least 78 offshore subsidiaries and branches, more than… – Continue reading
Where a foreign company renders professional services to a South African company, it is important that the foreign entity considers whether, as a result of rendering such services, the foreign company will create a permanent establishment in South Africa. The reason why this becomes important is that where a foreign… – Continue reading
The resurgent interest in transfer pricing abuse by multinationals might be missing the first “link in the chain” – the shifting of profits inside South Africa to the detriment of empowerment partners, workers, communities and the economy. This is the emerging line from a prominent think-tank, the SA Mining Development… – Continue reading
Afip has blamed Julio Grondona for authorising a $10-million payment that prosecutors have characterised as a bribe to vote for SA for World Cup 2010. Julio Grondona, a former Fifa vice-president and head of finance who ran Argentina’s soccer federation from 1979 until his death last year at 82, will… – Continue reading
THE South African Revenue Service (SARS ) is to significantly beef up its capacity to deal with base erosion and profit shifting, which has received intense focus by MPs over the last few months. SARS commissioner Tom Moyane said on Wednesday 24 more tax specialists would be employed in the… – Continue reading
Africa is known as the ‘paradox of plenty’. How can a continent so rich in natural resources be so poor? Economic growth is predicted to increase by 4.5% across the continent this year, despite falling oil prices and the Ebola crisis. South Africa’s economy, the second biggest in Africa is… – Continue reading
The objectives of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Finance and Investment include enhancing the productive capacity of the economies in the region and thereby increasing trade opportunities to eventually alleviate poverty. To achieve the objectives, various strategies can be employed, including, among others, improving the investment regime,… – Continue reading
The government is crafting legislation to compel mining firms to release production data to the fiscus to help curb illicit financial flows (IFFs) and transfer pricing which is costing African countries at least $50 billion annually, finance minister Patrick Chinamasa said on Friday. IFFs have become a highly emotive issue… – Continue reading
ALTHOUGH there is no conclusive evidence as to how much money South Africa is losing in terms of transfer pricing, the mining and extractive industries are responsible for R3.4bn of it. Dumisani Jantjies, financial analyst of the parliamentary budget office, singled out the mining industry as one of the biggest… – Continue reading
Cape Town – Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa wants artists and performers to get a financial break and will ask the Davis tax committee to give them tax incentives. Mthethwa told journalists in Parliament on Tuesday, during a briefing on his budget vote, that the department would meet the… – Continue reading
Addis Ababa, 19 May 2015- (ECA) – Africa’s money that could be used to improve lives and reduce poverty is leaving the continent through illicit financial flows defined as money illegally earned, transferred and used. As the Chairperson of the High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa, the… – Continue reading
The advantages of off-shore investments Two of the top reasons that South African investors are given to encourage offshore investments are that going offshore diversifies your portfolio and that it gives you access to sectors you could never find on the resource-heavy JSE. “While those are not reasons to be… – Continue reading
JOHANNESBURG – There is considerable scope to collect more revenue by addressing tax leakage due to transfer pricing. Speaking at a forum event hosted by the Gordon Institute of Business Science (Gibs), Judge Dennis Davis, chair of the Tax Committee that was tasked with a comprehensive review of South Africa’s… – Continue reading
National Treasury announced significant relaxation of exchange controls in the national budget in February this year, but according to Sable Forex MD, Andy Rissik, the paperwork demands are still an obstacle to moving money in or out of South Africa. “High Net Worth (HNW) individuals were pleased to receive some… – Continue reading
A Protocol amending the Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital between South Africa and Cyprus was signed on the 1st of April 2015. According to the Protocol, Article 10 (“Dividends”) of the Double Tax Treaty… – Continue reading
South African companies are unable to compete with multinationals selling goods and services online in the country, partly as a result of tax laws. This is according to financial services group PwC, which argues that the country has not kept pace with the changing global economy. “Currently, multinationals in the… – Continue reading
The deductibility of interest has for years been a contentious issue and this has been reaffirmed with the introduction of section 23M into the Income Tax Act No 58 of 1962 (the “Act”) with effect from 1 January 2015. A further addition to the interest sphere of income tax is… – Continue reading
In the 2015 Budget Speech presented to the National Assembly on 25 February 2015 the Minister of Finance announced that amendments will be proposed to change the rules for the digital economy in line with the latest guidance issued by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”) in its… – Continue reading
The Davis Tax Committee (“DTC”) recently addressed the issue of base erosion and profit shifting (“BEPS”) in South Africa. The international importance of transfer pricing was once again emphasized when 4 out of the 15 actions identified in the OECD Action Plan on BEPS related to transfer pricing. The 15… – Continue reading
COMPANIES that engaged in tax avoidance practices such as the abuse of transfer pricing should be expropriated without compensation, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MP Floyd Shivambu proposed in Parliament on Wednesday. This was one of a raft of “aggressive” measures that he believed the government should adopt to deal with… – Continue reading
There has been a lot of uncertainty with regard to withholding taxes imposed by the South African Revenue Service (SARS) on cross-border payments made by South Africans to offshore recipients, and the ambiguous administrative and compliance procedures relating thereto. Based on the information available directly from SARS, any amounts received… – Continue reading
