| 1. Locus Standi for Interested Parties in Legal Proceedings with SARS | By Ayanda Masina, Associate in the Sheptstone and Wylie Attorney tax team
In the unreported case of Sariette Groenewald v Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service (“the Commissioner”) case no: 4049/2016, the Gauteng High Court had to determine whether a sole member of a close corporation (“the intervening party”) had legal standing in an application.
Following the Taxpayer’s liquidation on 28 May 2015 a creditors meeting was held where SARS submitted its claims under the liquidation process for assessed taxes owed by the Taxpayer. | | Read More | | 2. Tax residence for individuals | By Newtons Accountants
Tax residence is not linked to migration status. In other words, irrespective of which country’s passport one carries, tax residence may still be established in South Africa by virtue of the domestic tests applied by the Income Tax Act.
In terms of that Act, an individual will be tax resident in South Africa if either that person meets the criteria of the “physical presence” test, or if that person is “ordinarily resident” in South Africa. | | Read More | | 3. Transfer Pricing Regulations Pertaining to the Capital Sum of a Loan | By Anton Lockem, Head of Tax and Andre Greeff, Candidate Attorney in the Tax team. Shepstone & Wylie Attorneys
Prior to 1 April 2012, the South African rules on thin capitalisation provided a safe harbour ratio of 3:1 for debt-to-equity. Thereafter, the thin capitalisation rules were subsumed by the current transfer pricing legislation. Section 31 of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 (“the Act”) essentially provides for cross border transactions between connected parties to be at arm’s length.
Therefore SARS may, for example, disallow the interest deductions pertaining to interest on that ‘thinly capitalised’ amount (i.e. on that excessive amount). According to the Draft Interpretation Note on section 31, the arm’s length nature of the loan agreement must be assessed from the perspective of the borrower as well as the lender. | | Read More | | 4. TAX OMBUD | | The Tax Ombud Judge Bernard Ngoepe has released the final report on the investigation into alleged delays in payment of refunds by the South African Revenue Service (SARS). The final report has findings, comments and recommendations by the Tax Ombud. | | Read More | | 5. ATAF INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE | | The 3rd International Conference on Tax in Africa (ICTA) planned for later this month in Abuja Nigeria, will be opened by His Excellency the Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, GCON. The flagship conference of the African Tax Administration Forum, has its theme as: “Building Strong Domestic Tax Regimes in Africa: Strengthening VAT, PIT and CIT | | Read More | |
Resignation of Tax Manager/Specialist:
Sibusiso Thungo | | SAIPA would like to inform you that our Tax Specialist Sibusiso Thungo will be leaving SAIPA. His last day will be 27 September 2017 – we would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his valued contribution and tax expertise over the past 2 and half years, and wish him well in his future endeavors. From 27 September 2017, all tax related queries should be sent to taxcentre@saipa.co.za or mkamdar@saipa.co.za. CoTE membership queries should be directed to CTshegameno@saipa.co.za | | SAIPA CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT | | SAIPA is continuously working on improving our engagement with our members through the SAIPA briefcase which is our Client Relationship Management system (CRM). We encourage you to utilise this platform to log any queries you may have. You will be able to track the progress of your enquiry, and even escalate it if you have not received an answer within a satisfactory time period. | | Click here for more information | SAIPA’s NEW INTERNATIONAL
TAX GUIDE | Have you been struggling with the understanding of some of your client’s International tax transaction?
If so, look no further. The SAIPA Tax Team has developed an International Tax Guide, sponsored by JUTA and Sanlam, to simplify transactions for you. This guide is available for purchase at R50 including VAT excluding postage per copy. To order your copy please email Taxcentre@saipa.co.za. / mkamdar@saipa.co.za | | HAVE YOU BOOKED FOR THE SAIPA NATIONAL CONFERENCE YET? | | With only five weeks to go, and just under 200 tickets left, don’t miss out on attending the SAIPA National Conference from 19-21 October 2017 at the CTICC. We’ve added an extra workshop before the main conference, on 19 October; and tickets for the Celebratory Gala Dinner are now available to book. | | Click here for more details |
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