On 4 May 2013, the South Africa Revenue Service released the new income tax returns for companies.

It is well known that the growth of the South African economy is languishing, and that unemployment levels are dangerously high.

Pravin Gordhan, South Africa’s Minister of Finance is expected to announce in his Budget speech later this month the substantial reform of the tax concessions currently available to individuals with respect to their pensions and savings.

The Taxation Laws Amendment Act, 2012, has amended the tax consequences of debt reduction transactions entered on or after 1 January 2013.

Legacy systems are often blamed for insurers’ struggles to become data-driven organisations, but ingrained company cultures may be the real roadblock that keeps insurers from transforming their vast data caches into effective customer strategies.

The South African government should reduce tax rates to grow the economy and increase tax collections, according to Yasmeen Suliman, director corporate tax at KPMG.

Preliminary comments on the Draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill, 2013 that was released on Thursday evening, 4 July 2013 by National Treasury.

New digital technologies are allowing insurers to leverage information technology beyond traditional automating of standard process flows and to engage customers, partners and employees in more meaningful and effective ways.

The Broad-Based Black Economic Act and its Codes, gazetted in 2007, are said to have achieved a measure of success.

You are at an office park and the only way to gain access and attend your meeting is to exchange your personal information - you sign away your name, ID number and contact details, while at least one security camera is carefully trained on your car.

The South African financial services regulatory environment is in flux!

In the aftermath of the financial crisis, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision embarked on a program of substantially revising its existing capital adequacy guidelines; the resulting framework is known as ‘Basel III’.

IFRS 4 provides guidance on whether medical schemes should assess capitation agreements as risk transfer arrangements or not.

The tax debate is progressively focusing on closing perceived tax loopholes and increasing self-assessment through vigorous auditing by the tax authorities.

It is generally conceded that inappropriate incentives and remuneration structures led to unwelcome behavior in the banking industry.

Taxation of mining companies has once again been at the forefront of the debate as to whether the State derives sufficient economic benefit in light of President Zuma's State of the Nation Address.

The increased cost of capital during this time saw many acquisitions and projects being deferred but eventually companies across the globe realised that despite the persistent bearish market conditions, they needed to grow and find investment opportunities for their shareholder funds.

Corporates and insurance companies often enter into cell captive arrangements.

The recently released Taxation Laws Amendment Act includes some amendments to certain important provisions of the Mineral and Petroleum Royalty Act, 2008.

For many years investment in immovable property has been a very lucrative form of passive investment in South Africa, particularly when comparing the South African property market with countries like the US or Europe.