In 2019, the Tax Court in ABC Proprietary Limited v C:
SARS (Case No. 14287) 82 SATC 144 held that the most
favoured nation (“MFN”) article which
is contained in the DTA between South Africa and the Netherlands,
when read with the DTA between South Africa and Sweden, and the
dividend article in the DTA between South Africa and Kuwait,
results in the dividends withholding tax
(“DWT”) rate being reduced from 5% to
0% of the gross amount of the dividends paid by a South African
resident company to a Dutch company shareholder (assuming it is the
beneficial owner of the dividend) which holds at least 10% of the
capital in the company paying the dividend.
Government Gazette No. 51637 published on 22 November 2024
(“GG”) contains the protocol to the
double tax agreement (“DTA”) between South
Africa and Kuwait (“Protocol”). The GG
states that in terms of paragraph 1 of Article 7 of the Protocol,
the Protocol's date of entry into force is 2
October 2024.
