The study examined tax legislation that affects Public Benefit Organisations (PBOs) with specific emphasis on sports organisations. The relevance of the legislation was examined and secondly, where applicable, a review on how specific sports organisations (PBOs and recreational clubs) implemented the tax legislation was performed. A detailed analysis of the national and international sports environment was presented in order to inform the study. This was followed by a comprehensive examination of each section of the Income Tax Act in relation to PBOs and sport. A brief comparative study was also undertaken to benchmark South Africa against countries playing the same or similar sports. As the tax on Public Benefit Organisations is a relatively recent tax, little or no analysis has yet been conducted on its relevance and the implementation thereof. This study served to critically analyse the implementation of this tax by sports organisations using the limited data available in the public domain. The results revealed that the legislation is excessive, particularly for recreational clubs, taking into consideration South Africa's sporting development needs. In support of the findings, it is recommended that the Treasury consider separating the legislation affecting sports organisations from legislation affecting other Public Benefit Organisations.

No abstract available. Copyright / Dissertation (MPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Taxation / unrestricted

For a taxpayer to be able to carry forward a balance of an assessed loss from a prior year, there are two conditions which have to be fulfilled according to section 20 of the South African Income Tax Act, 58 of 1962 namely: <ul><li> The taxpayer has to be carrying on a trade and, </li><li> Income has to be generated from the trade. </li></ul> The onus to prove that both these requirements have been met rests on the taxpayer in terms of section 82 of the Income Tax Act. This study looks at the second requirement which has been a contentious issue as far as its interpretation is concerned. The first point of departure was to analyse the meaning of “income” in this requirement as there have been conflicting views between the South African Revenue Service’s Interpretation Note No. 33 and various High Court and Supreme Court of Appeal court cases. The area of concern is whether “income” in this context should have its ordinary meaning per the Income Tax Act of “gross income less exempt income” or whether it should be “pre-tax profit” or “taxable income”. The implementation of the “income from trade” requirement often leads to anomalies, unintended results and uncertainty with the application of section 20 of the Income Tax Act. This study takes a look at the “income from trade” requirement and whether the way it is implemented makes good tax policy by analysing the arguments for and against the retention of this requirement. The study also addresses the issue as to whether the use of the purposive interpretation, as opposed to the grammatical interpretation, of section 20 of the Income Tax Act could possibly be followed in cases where the implementation of the “income from trade requirement” leads to anomalies, unintended results and uncertainty with the correct application of section 20. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Mercantile Law / unrestricted

E-commerce and transactions in virtual worlds has monetary value and may lead to actual cash flows. Where real money trade occurs tax authorities are bound to seek ways and means in which to levy and collect taxes (Pienaar, 2008:38). Previous research on the application of the South African income tax laws to transactions in virtual worlds has been conducted. The application of the charging section of the value added tax laws in South Africa has also been researched in the context of e-commerce and transactions in virtual worlds. Limited research has been conducted on the actual value added tax collection methods in the context of e-commerce and transactions in virtual worlds. This study critically analyses the value added tax collection methods employed in South Africa in the context of ecommerce and transactions in virtual worlds and compares the extent of its application to the extent of the goods and services tax collection methods’ application employed in Australia in this context. The study concludes that that the value added tax collection methods employed in South Africa and the goods and services tax collection methods employed in Australia are similar. Special rules have been adopted in Australia to ensure goods and service taxes are collected on the supply electronic goods. This is not the case in South Africa. However, in the case of transactions in virtual worlds, both countries’ collection methods struggle in ensuring value added tax and goods and service taxes is collected where the supplier of a virtual item is foreign in relation to South Africa or Australia. AFRIKAANS : E-commerce en transaksies in virtuele wêrelde het monetêre waarde en mag in sekere omstandighede kontantvloeie tot gevolg bring. Wanneer regte geld verhandel word sal belasting owerhede altyd maniere soek om belasting the hef op die onderliggende transaksies en dit in te vorder (Pienaar, 2008:38). Vorige navorsing rakende die toepassing van die Suid Afrikaanse inkomste belasting wetgewing in virtuele wêrelde is al voorheen gedoen. The toepassing van die heffings artikel in the belasting op toegevoegde waarde (BTW) wetgewing op e-commerce en transaksies in virtuele wêrelde was ook al vorheen nagevors. Min navorsing was gevind wat aleenlik fokus op die invorderings meganismes in die BTW wetgewing in die konteks van transaksies in virtuele wêrelde en e-commerce. Hierdie studie analiseer krities die toepassing van die invorderings meganismes in die Suid Afrikaanse BTW wetgewing in die konteks van e-commerce en transaksies in virtuele wêrelde en vergelyk die toepassing daarvan met die toepassing van die Australiaanse goods and services tax wetgewing se invorderings meganismes in dieselfde konteks. Die studie lig uit dat die twee lande se invorderings meganismes baie dieselfde is. The Australiaanse wetgewing maak egter spesiale voorsiening vir lewerings met betrekking tot e-commerce. Dit is nie die geval in Suid Afrika nie. Met betrekking tot transaksies in virtuele wêrelde sukkel beide lande se invorerings meganismes om seker maak dat BTW en goods and services tax ingevorder word waar die verskaffer nie Suid Afrikaans of Australiaans is nie. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Taxation / unrestricted

In 2018, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) issued a media statement providing guidance for the first time to South African citizens on the taxation of cryptocurrency transactions. The SARS media guidelines indicate that the normal income tax rules of the South African Income Tax Act will apply to cryptocurrency transactions and that cryptocurrency gains or losses must be declared as part of taxable income. The purpose of this research study was to investigate the ability of South African taxpayers to determine the income tax consequences of cryptocurrency transactions using the SARS media guidelines. Previous research has focused on establishing the theoretical income tax consequences of cryptocurrency transactions, rather than on the ability of taxpayers to determine those consequences. The study made use of both doctrinal and quantitative research methods to address the research questions. Using doctrinal research, in-depth document analysis was performed to benchmark the SARS media guidelines to that of selected tax authorities, to ascertain the completeness of this guidance. Quantitative data was collected through a cross-sectional survey questionnaire, to test the ability of participants to determine the income tax consequences of cryptocurrency transactions. This study found that the SARS media guidelines did not comprehensively address all the cryptocurrency transactions considered by the guidelines of the other selected tax authorities examined. The SARS media guidelines did not have a statistically significant effect on the participants' ability to determine the income tax consequences of the cryptocurrency transactions presented to them. However, the tax literacy level of participants was found to influence their understanding of the income tax consequences of cryptocurrency transactions, particularly in respect of those transactions not addressed by the SARS media guidelines. These findings support the recommendation that SARS provide more comprehensive guidance to taxpayers, and should focus on improving the tax literacy of taxpayers in general and, with respect to cryptocurrency transactions.