The "realisation company" concept in South African income tax law
- Authors: Grobler, Daniel Jacques
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Income tax -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:8951 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/2118 , Income tax -- South Africa
- Description: The Supreme Court of Appeal has revisited the issue that has attracted the most litigation in South African tax law: whether gains from the disposal of an asset are of a capital or of a revenue nature. In CSARS V Founders Hill (509/10) [2011] ZASCA 66, 73 SATC 183 the court held that „intention‟ is not conclusive in the enquiry and cannot be the litmus test in determining the nature of proceeds from the sale of an asset. This judgement relegates intention to only one of the factors to be considered as it was held that it should be considered objectively whether the taxpayer is actually trading or not. The court also indicated that a „realisation company‟ would only act on capital account if it is formed for the purpose of facilitating the realisation of property which could not otherwise be dealt with satisfactorily. This treatise was primarily aimed at an analysis of the court cases which dealt with the „realisation company‟ concept in South African income tax law. In analysing the „realisation company‟ concept through case law culminating in Founders Hill, it was found that in every instance where „realisation company‟ x had won the argument, there had been compelling reasons why the owners of the assets had found it necessary to realise the asset through an interposed company established for that purpose. These reasons include: to facilitate the sale of property previously held by different people and to consolidate and conveniently administer the interests of beneficiaries under different wills. Furthermore, this treatise criticised „intention‟ as the primary test in determining the nature of proceeds from the sale of a capital asset and examined the objective approach to the inquiry as advocated in CSARS v Founders Hill. A discussion on the advantages of this approach indicated that it will certainly obviate a number of difficulties that arise from invoking „intention‟ as the litmus test.
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- Date Issued: 2012
A critical analysis of the distintion between mining and manufacturing for South African income tax purposes
- Authors: Cloete, Loriaan
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Mining corporations -- South Africa , Income tax -- South Africa , Income tax -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Mining law -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:8948 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1344 , Mining corporations -- South Africa , Income tax -- South Africa , Income tax -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Mining law -- South Africa
- Description: "Mining operations" and "mining" are defined in s 1 of the Income Tax Act (ITA). A concept that is of great significance to this definition is the matter of when a mineral is won and the related question of when does the mining process end and the process of manufacture commences. Case law has not established a definitive point that can be used by the mining taxpayer to determine where the mining process ends for income tax purposes. The Supreme Court of Appeal was presented with the perfect opportunity in the Foskor1 case to clearly define the boundaries between these processes. Unfortunately, the court did not seize this opportunity to provide legal certainty. The significance of the distinction lies in the fact that a mining taxpayer is allowed to claim accelerated capital allowances. The objective of these allowances is to provide tax relief to the mining taxpayer taking the immense risk of investing billions of rands in capital expenditure. The capital expenditure incurred will also result in direct foreign investment. This in turn will result in economic growth and job creation. Currently, there is no legal certainty as to which processes will qualify as mining operations for income tax purposes. This may result in mining taxpayers being hesitant to incur capital expenditure as the risk relating to a project would have increased. The accelerated capital allowances may therefore not serve their intended purpose. The gross domestic product (GDP) contribution from gold mining has been decreasing in the last number of years, but this decrease has to a large extent been offset by an increase in the downstream or beneficiated minerals industry. This industry has also been identified by Government as a growth sector. The downstream or beneficiated mineral industry may not be catered for in the current definition of "mining operations" and "mining" and may therefore not qualify for beneficial tax allowances. It is therefore proposed that the term "won" as used in the definition of "mining operations" and "mining" should be defined in s 1 of the ITA as follows: A mineral is "won" when all the requisite and necessary processes, including, amongst other things, refinement, beneficiation, smelting, separation, have been undertaken to the mineral to render it saleable in an open and general market. This extension will provide legal certainty to a mining taxpayer and will ensure that South Africa obtains direct foreign investment and maximum value for its minerals. This will contribute to economic growth for South Africa's developing economy and result in job creation.
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- Date Issued: 2010
A critical analysis of the income tax implications of persons ceasing to be a resident of South Africa
- Authors: Loyson, Richard Michael
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Income tax -- South Africa , Double taxation -- South Africa , Aliens -- Taxation -- South Africa , Capital gains tax -- South Africa , Citizenship -- South Africa , Emigration and immigration law -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:8957 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1180 , Income tax -- South Africa , Double taxation -- South Africa , Aliens -- Taxation -- South Africa , Capital gains tax -- South Africa , Citizenship -- South Africa , Emigration and immigration law -- South Africa
- Description: Over the last 10 years the South African fiscus has introduced numerous changes to the Income Tax Act (ITA) which affect the income tax implications of persons ceasing to be a resident of South Africa. The two main changes were: - The introduction of a world-wide basis of taxation for residents - The introduction of capital gains tax (CGT) as part of the ITA The aim of this treatise was to identify the income tax implications of persons ceasing to be a resident of South Africa. Resulting from this research, several issues in the ITA have been identified, and the two major ones are summarised below. Firstly, upon the emigration of the taxpayer, there is a deemed disposal of a taxpayer’s assets in terms of paragraph 12 of the Eighth Schedule. It is submitted that the resulting exit tax may be unconstitutional for individuals. It is recommended that South Africa should adopt the deferral method within its domestic legislation for individuals who are emigrating. The deferral method postpones the liability until the disposal of the asset. Secondly, on the subsequent disposal of assets by former residents where there was no exit charge in terms of the exemption under paragraph 12(2)(a)(i) of the Eighth Schedule. Depending on the specific double tax agreement (DTA) that has been entered into with the foreign country, taxpayers have been given vii the opportunity to minimise or eliminate the tax liability with regard to certain assets. This should be of concern from the point of view of the South African government. Further issues noted in this treatise were the following: - It is submitted that the term ‘place of effective management’ has been incorrectly interpreted by SARS in Interpretation Note 6. - It is further submitted that the interpretation by SARS of paragraph 2(2) of the Eighth Schedule is technically incorrect. The above issues that have been identified present opportunities to emigrants to take advantage of the current tax legislation. It is further recommended that taxpayers who are emigrating need to consider the South African domestic tax law implications, respective DTA’s, as well as the domestic tax laws of the other jurisdiction, not only on the date of emigration but also on the subsequent disposal of the respective assets.
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- Date Issued: 2010
A critical analysis of the definition of gross income
- Authors: Beck, Tracy Geraldine
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Income tax -- Law and legislation -- South Africa -- Interpretation and construction , Capital gains tax -- South Africa , Income tax -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:8977 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/805 , Income tax -- Law and legislation -- South Africa -- Interpretation and construction , Capital gains tax -- South Africa , Income tax -- South Africa
- Description: Income tax is levied upon a taxpayer’s taxable income. Various steps are taken in order to arrive at the taxpayer’s taxable income. The starting point when calculating taxable income is determining the taxpayer’s ‘gross income’. ‘Gross income’ is defined in terms of section 1 of the Act. Various terms within the gross income definition are not clearly defined, except in the case of a ‘resident’. Even in the case of the definition of a ‘resident’, the aspect of ‘ordinarily resident’ is not defined and nor is the ‘place of effective management’. The following components fall within the definition of ‘gross income’: • The total amount in cash or otherwise; • received by or accrued to, or in favour of, a person; • from anywhere, in the case of a person who is a resident; • from a South African source (or deemed source), in the case of a non-resident; • other than receipts or accruals of a capital nature. The ‘total amount’ in ‘cash or otherwise’ is the first step when determining the taxable income of a taxpayer for a particular year of assessment. Gross income only arises if an amount is received or has accrued; this amount need not be in the form of money but must have a money value. The next component, ‘received by or accrued to’, is related to time and implies that a taxpayer should include amounts that have been ‘received by’, as well as amounts that have ‘accrued to’ him during the year of assessment. ‘Resident’ and ‘non-resident’ unlike the other components, are defined in terms of section 1 of the Income Tax Act. There are two rules used to determine whether natural persons are residents, these are: • To determine whether natural persons are ‘ordinarily resident’; or • where the natural person is not an ‘ordinarily resident’, the ‘physical presence test’ will be applied. ‘Source’ means origin and not place; it is therefore the ‘originating cause of the receipt of the money’. There is no single definition for the word ‘source’ as circumstances may differ in various cases. The facts of each case must be analysed in order to determine the actual source of income for that particular case. The last component of the definition of ‘gross income’ is the exclusion of ‘receipts and accruals of a capital nature’. The Act does not define the meaning of ‘capital nature’ but does indicate that receipts or accruals of a capital nature are, with certain exceptions, not included in ‘gross income’. Receipts or accruals that are not of a capital nature is known as ‘revenue’ and subjected to tax. This study is primarily aimed at an examination of court cases related to the various components falling within the definition of ‘gross income’.
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- Date Issued: 2008
An historical perspective of income tax legislation in South Africa, 1910 to 1925
- Authors: Surtees, Peter Geoffrey
- Date: 1986
- Subjects: Income tax -- South Africa , Income tax -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Income tax -- South Africa -- History
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:898 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004578 , Income tax -- South Africa , Income tax -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Income tax -- South Africa -- History
- Description: From Introduction: This work considers the period from Union, 31 May 1910 until promulgation of the Income Tax Act No. 40 of 1925.(1) It will describe the means, both financial and otherwise, by which the fledgling Government of the Union of South Africa contrived to balance its budget, and will consider the various sources of revenue available up to 1914, when the Government of Gen. Louis Botha first decided that a tax on income was necessary in order to maintain the solvency of the new State. Similarly the political pressures which shaped the nature of the Income Tax Acts up to 1925 will be discussed, and the political principles (or expediencies, depending on the degree of cynicism of the reader) which led the parties in power from time to time to make the decisions they did regarding the provisions of the various Acts. The effect of external political situations such as the Great War of 1914 - 1918 will be examined, as will the consequences of the rebellion of 1914 and the strikes of 1913 and 1922. The legislation predictably spawned a considerable body of litigation as taxpayers hastened to find and exploit loopholes in it; the resultant Income Tax Cases, in the Income Tax Special Court, Supreme Court and Appeal Court, formed the embryo of a body of judicial precedent which today encompasses some two thousand case reports. A few of the cases decided in the period up to 1925 are still quoted today; for example, CIR v Lunnon 1924 AD 1 SATC 7. The relevant cases from the period will enjoy consideration, with descriptions of how their verdicts affected either subsequent income tax principles or later legislation. Also considered will be the inception during this period of the way in which income tax legislation largely develops: the legislature promulgates an Act, the taxpayers discover legitimate ways to reduce their tax burden and the Minister of Finance consequently causes the Act to be changed in order to protect the tax base. Thereupon the resolute taxpayers seek loopholes anew. The effect of economic conditions on income tax legislation will engage attention; several such conditions cast their shadows into the House of Assembly during that 15 year period, notably the post-war recession and the drought of 1919. The selection of this period is apposite for several reasons: it covers the period during which income tax legislation came into being; - it includes several notable political occurrences. thus making possible a consideration of their effect on income tax legislation; it includes a natural cataclysm. namely a major drought. which also had an effect on subsequent Income Tax Acts; - a sufficient number of income tax cases was heard during the period to afford a fair indication both of how the body of case law would develop and how it would perpetually interplay with the legislation; it clearly illustrates the differences between the two great political parties of the time, differences largely caused by the vested interests of each; the dominant South African Party, with its need to retain the support of the commercial and particularly the mining sectors, and the smaller but even then growing National Party with its face set firmly towards the rural constituencies and the embattled farmers; - the period culminates in the Income Tax Act of 1925, a significant change from its predecessors, and the second Income Tax Act of the Pact Government. The imposition of taxes by the respective provinces does not form part of this work, as the scope of the discussion is limited to the various Income Tax Acts, and their development has been overseen by the central government.
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- Date Issued: 1986