Taxpayers who operate from leased premises often incur significant costs in order to make the premises suitable for their specific trade. For accounting purposes such costs are generally capitalised as leasehold improvements and depreciated over the lease term. In practice many taxpayers proceed to follow the same approach for tax purposes by claiming an allowance for wear and tear on leasehold expenditure over the term of the lease. However, such expenditure is far more complex and taxpayers often do not properly understand the appropriate tax treatment of such costs. The tax treatment of expenditure incurred on leased premises is determined by a number of legislative sections, each with its own provisos and requirements. The applicable section under which a taxpayer should claim a deduction for expenditure on leased premises depends on the type of expenditure incurred by the taxpayer. In this study a framework was developed for determining the correct tax treatment of expenditure incurred by lessees on leased premises. Different types of expenditure that lessees had incurred were identified in three case studies. The framework was evaluated by applying it to these types of expenditure identified, and was found to be of considerable practical use. / Afrikaans: Belastingpligtiges wat hul besighede vanuit gehuurde persele bedryf, moet dikwels aansienlike uitgawes aangaan ten einde die perseel geskik te maak vir hul spesifieke tipe besigheid. Vir rekenkundige doeleindes word hierdie uitgawes oor die algemeen as huurverbeteringe gekapitaliseer en oor die huurtermyn gedepresiëer. Vir belastingdoeleindes volg belastingpligtiges in die praktyk dikwels dieselfde benadering, deur ’n waardeverminderingstoelaag op huuruitgawes oor die huurtermyn te eis. Die toepaslike belastinghantering van sulke uitgawes is egter meer gekompliseerd en belastingpligtiges verstaan dit dikwels nie. Die belastinghantering van uitgawes aangegaan by huurpersele word bepaal deur ’n aantal wetsartikels, elk met sy eie voorwaardes en vereistes. Die toepaslike artikel waaronder ’n belastingpligtige ’n aftrekking vir uitgawes op huurpersele kan eis, hang af van die tipe uitgawe wat aangegaan is. In hierdie studie is ’n raamwerk ontwikkel wat huurders gebruik om die korrekte belastinghantering van uitgawes op huurpersele aangegaan, te bepaal. Verskillende tipes uitgawes wat huurders aangegaan het, is in drie gevallestudies geïdentifiseer. Die raamwerk is geëvalueer deur dit op die geïdentifiseerde tipes uitgawes toe te pas, en daar is gevind dat dit heelwat praktiese waarde het. / Mini Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Taxation / MCom / Unrestricted

The common law of lease sets out certain reciprocal rights and duties of lessors and lessees. It also provides for sui generis aspects such as the lessor’s hypothec and the protection of the lessee under the huur gaat voor koop rule. The relatively uncomplicated manner in which the common law has addressed specific issues pertaining to the law of lease has however been influenced by recent legislation that have an impact on various aspects of lease. The Rental Housing Act 50 of 1999 has entrenched parameters for the exercise of certain rights by the lessor and lessee and has introduced Rental Housing Tribunals to deal with unfair leasing practices. The Prevention of Illegal Eviction of and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act 19 of 1998 has radically impacted on the process that a lessor has to follow where he wishes to evict a lessee who remains in occupation of a leased premises after lawful termination of a lease agreement. Most recently the introduction of the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008, which came into full operation at the end of March 2011, appears to have a significant impact on the law of lease in those instances where the Act finds application to a lease agreement. In this regard it must be observed that the Consumer Protection Act impacts on a lease agreement that falls within its scope in two ways: on the one hand section 14 of the Act which regulates fixed term agreements may find specific application to a lease agreement that falls within the scope of application of the said section. On the other hand, there are certain ‘general’ provisions of the Act that will find application generally to lease agreements that fall within the scope of application of the Act , even if they do not fall within the specific scope of application of section 14. The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate how the various pieces of legislation indicated herein , impact on the common law of lease . The main focus will eventually be the impact of the Consumer Protection Act as such impact still has to manifest in practice.It will thus be endeavoured to present a holistic view of the ‘changing face of the law of lease’ in South Africa. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Mercantile Law / unrestricted