213 results found

A summary of the most recent tax developments in Africa.

South Africa's Revenue Service has issued Binding Private Ruling 430, clarifying its position on trust-to-trust distributions and the section 7(8) attribution rules. The ruling examines whether distributing an interest-free loan claim constitutes a disposition, explores how the causal nexus can be severed when downstream yields are generated by independent foreign companies, and reveals the administrative complexities trustees face when claiming foreign tax rebates for non-resident beneficiaries.

On 3 February 2012, the State Intervention in the Minerals Sector report ("the Report"), prepared by the ANC Policy Institute was submitted to the African National Congress for consideration and will become the subject for wider debate in June 2012.

On 28 July 2021, National Treasury and the South African Revenue Service ("SARS") published the 2021 draft Rates and Monetary Amounts and Amendment of Revenue Laws Bill ("2021 draft Rates Bill")

The Tax Administration Act, No 28 of 2011 (‘TAA’), which was promulgated on 4th July 2012, took effect on 1st October 2012, except for certain specific provisions dealing with the imposition of interest payable to the Commissioner: South African Revenue Service by taxpayers, and, also, by the Commissioner to taxpayers.

The venture capital company ("VCC") regime was introduced in 2009, with an aim to encourage investors, by way of substantial tax benefits, to invest in small South African trading companies.

The South African Government was traditionally quite reluctant to impose withholding taxes, especially in an attempt to encourage investment into South Africa. Of late, however, it seems that it has been realised that withholding taxes is an effective method of collecting taxes especially in the context of non-residents of South Africa deriving their profits from transactions linked to South Africa.

In a slightly surprising, but nevertheless welcome, South African 2020 Budget Speech today, the Honourable Minister of Finance announced that there would be no significant tax increases

The Government of Ghana has introduced five new Bills, aimed at increasing revenue generation.

The Tax Court in Cape Town has ruled on a dividend stripping arrangement used in the sale of a self-storage business, applying South Africa's general anti-avoidance rules to a structure where shareholders attempted to convert taxable capital gains into exempt intercompany dividends. Following the Constitutional Court's recent decision in Absa Bank Ltd v SARS, the Court examined whether a pre-acquisition dividend funded by the purchaser's subscription served any purpose beyond tax avoidance, and whether the

The Constitutional Court's decision in Absa Bank Ltd v SARS marks a pivotal shift in how South African courts approach tax avoidance structures, moving beyond technical compliance to examine the true commercial substance of transactions. This judgment signals a broader regulatory trend where authorities increasingly look through carefully engineered corporate structures to ask what was really happening, challenging the long-held assumption that technical legal compliance provides immunity from scrutiny.

The concept of base erosion and profit shifting has been debated at various international forums following discussions at the G20 summit last year.

South Africa's Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana will present the 2025 budget speech on Wednesday, 19 February 2025. Since the last budget, the South African...

The taxpayer contended that it is necessary that a permanent establishment be created first under Article 5(1) and only once that has occurred, is it then necessary to take account of the provisions of Article 5(2)(k) of the DTA.

Various changes have been made to the controlled foreign company (CFC) tax rules.

In this second of a series of articles on tax and corporate governance we consider the formulation of an effective compliance framework and processes over the company's tax obligations.

Given the poor economic climate that South Africa (and much of the world) has endured for the last 6 years it is not surprising that many companies have assessed losses.