Given the funding crisis in South African universities, investigation was carried out with respect to the role which Value Added Tax (VAT) plays in the educational services sector. It was found that there are difficulties in accounting for and apportioning VAT due to the diversification of revenue streams, especially with historically government-funded institutions. Furthermore, it was found that the application of current VAT legislation can face difficulties in regards to application of legislation with the move towards digital educational services providers, especially when looking at the role of agency through providing digital educational services on behalf of another institution. Lastly, the role of the VAT exempt status of educational services was seen to be one which can be improved upon so as to remove inefficiencies in the funding process of governmentally funded institutions, and to possible remove the benefit afforded to privately owned institutions.

Includes bibliographical references. / Special tax regimes (“STR”) and tax havens are topics that feature in global news on an increasingly frequent basis in particular over the last few years. This can be partially attributed to the global financial crisis that has lead many countries being into financial strife coupled with news reporters and critics commenting on the amount of money that companies are avoiding paying in corporate tax due to the use of tax avoidance schemes and tax havens. Therefore Governments are under increasing pressure to curb the amount of revenues that are lost to other jurisdictions. However, whilst that makes the headlines, there is also a necessity for Governments to incentivise companies into their jurisdiction so to provide further revenue to their economy, in particular for the provision of additional jobs and to assist the property market following the crash, this can therefore be seen as very much a double edged sword. So whilst it is clear that a number of countries, governments and nongovernmental organisations including the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and groups such as the Tax Justice Network are trying to rid the world of tax havens and countries offering special tax regimes, on the other side many Governments are also trying to lure large corporations into their jurisdictions by offering lucrative tax regimes. South Africa is one such country that has decided to incentivise foreign companies in particular those involved in cross border transactions into its jurisdiction by introducing its Headquarter Company Regime.

A critical analysis of the implementation of the 'pay now, argue later' principle by SARS as provided by section 164 of the Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011: Abstract: The 'Pay Now, Argue Later' principle applies in income tax or value-added tax collection procedure after the South African Revenue Services has concluded an assessment in terms of the Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011 and found that an amount of tax is due and payable by the taxpayer. In terms of the 'pay now, argue later' principle, the taxpayer has to pay the assessed amount before being accorded an opportunity to raise any objections. The purpose of this paper is, to do an in-depth evaluation of the implications of the implementation of the 'pay now, argue later' principle by SARS. The implementation of the principle will be evaluated to determine if it is unjust, inequitable or unreasonable. In addition to the latter evaluation, the principle's shortfalls will be highlighted with the inclusion of a brief legal position in other countries. The paper acknowledges the existence of the principle, although the implementation thereof by SARS remains questionable and a source of controversy. The paper ultimately concludes that the 'pay now, argue later' principle, though constitutionally validated to a certain extent need to be revised. A balance has to be struck between the taxpayer's rights, public interest and SARS' powers in implementing the principle. A recommendation is therefore made to place the implementation thereof in the Tax Ombud in view of UK's Taxes Management Act where Commissioners resolve such disputes between taxpayers and the Inland Revenue Authority. ******************************************* Limitation of interest deduction in South Africa: a suggested approach to the application of sections 31 and 23M of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 to debt and equity business financing methods. Abstract: The South African income tax system acknowledges the financing of resident companies by a related non-resident company through the use of debt and equity. However, the use of debt financing method is a cause for concern to the South African Revenue Services as it results in the base erosion and profit shifting of taxable profits through mispricing and excessive interest deductions. Section 31 and 23M were inserted into the South African Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 to address excessive debt levels and interest deductions. The objective of this paper is to analyse the rationale behind the use of debt and equity financing methods. This paper will also discuss the application of both s 31 and s 23M. Due to the close connection of s 31 and s 23M to debt transactions, an approach on how the two sections can be applied is suggested. This paper finds that the provisions of both s 31 and s 23M are applicable to the same set of facts. The paper also finds that s 31 provisions are applied to determine if a company has excessive debts taking into account the arm's length principle while s 23M provisions are applied to limit interest deductions. The paper suggests that the legislature should provide guidance on the interplay of the two provisions and in the absence of any guidance, the provisions of s 31 should be applied first followed by the provisions of s 23M.

A question that often arises is whether a particular person is an employee or an independent contractor, and what the obligations of the employer in such circumstances are. The Fourth Schedule to the Income Tax Act requires any employer who pays any amount by way of remuneration to its employees to deduct pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) in accordance with the tables released by the South African Revenue Services (SARS).

Es de conocimiento público que los contribuyentes (empresas naturales como jurídicas) son muy reticentes a la hora de tener que pagar sus tributos a la Administración Tributaria, esta conducta puede deberse a diversas razones, entre ellas que lo consideran injusto, por falta de información, porque están desorientados, porque los procedimientos son muy costosos y se desaniman de cumplir con sus obligaciones tributarias o simplemente que aun sabiéndolo todo, sencillamente no quieren pagar; pese a esto, cabe señalar que en nuestro país el ingreso tributario implica cerca del 80% de los ingresos de todo el Estado, los cuales son destinados a fines públicos, convirtiéndonos en un país tributo dependiente, tal como señala Edwin Gutiérrez (GUTIERREZ, 2012), Docente del Departamento de Ciencias Administrativas de la PUCP. Por otra parte, si el tributo es mal usado puede convertirse en un arma perniciosa que obstaculiza el desarrollo empresarial, lo cual conlleva a que el contribuyente idee nuevas formas o tácticas para reducir o evitar el cumplimiento de sus obligaciones tributarias. Una de las más utilizadas para la obtención de dichos fines es el planeamiento tributario, que si bien no es lícito o ilícito, toda vez que puede servir para implementar el ejercicio de la economía de opción, el cual consiste en el ahorro fiscal, qué es totalmente lícito, sin embargo en el proceso de llegar a dicho ahorro, el contribuyente puede incurrir en comportamientos ilícitos o poco éticos que vulneran los principios y valores de un sistema tributario, y es allí cuando surge la figura de la elusión tributaria.

In Trinity Asset Management (Pty) Ltd v Grindstone Investments 132 (Pty) Ltd the court held that debt in terms of a contract would become due on the specified date in terms of the agreement; when there is no specified date, the debt will be due immediately upon conclusion of the contract. The applicable period for the prescription of a debt arising from a loan agreement is three years. In the normal course of business, an interest-free loan is perceived to have no tax consequences for the debtor or the creditor. The reason for this is that even though the debtor becomes the owner of the loan capital, he is under obligation to repay the creditor. When the loan prescribes, the tax implications will differ, resulting in either donations tax, capital gains tax or dividends tax. This dissertation considers the tax implications of prescribed debt in South Africa with specific focus on interest-free loans. In South Africa, interest-free loans form an important commercial part of the economy, commonly found between individuals, companies and trusts as they usually form part of a financing structure. These loans tend to be informal agreements between parties with no specified due date for debt. This can easily result in the extinction of debt, due to prescription, that may give rise to various tax implications. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Mercantile Law / LLM Tax Law / Unrestricted

The recent discoveries of natural gas in Tanzania, estimated at about fifty-seven trillion cubic feet (tcf), have sparked tremendous hopes for socio-economic development in the country. While this optimism seems to be supported by conventional wisdom and economic insights, evidence from other oil-rich African countries shows that in spite of the ongoing oil and gas extraction, they are floundering in poverty, corruption and political instability. This phenomenal dichotomy between oil and gas wealth and socioeconomic development is referred to as the "resource curse". As this study demonstrates, the "curse" is partly a result of under-taxation. This study uses the resource curse study to analyze and evaluate tax-related challenges in the Tanzanian upstream oil and gas industry. In doing so, the study identifies three factors that may cause loss of potential tax revenues - referred to as "tax revenue leakage". First, the discretionary tax incentives, such as tax exemptions, lowering tax rates and special tax treatment, result in non-payment of taxes that would have otherwise been payable. Second, the International Oil Companies (IOCs) adopt a variety of techniques, such as transfer pricing, thin capitalization, corporate re-organization tax evasion and treaty shopping to exploit the loopholes or gaps in the tax laws to minimize, reduce or eliminate their tax obligations without being detected or punished. Third, corrupt Government officials willfully fail to collect taxes due, short levy taxes, grant undeserving tax incentives to the IOCs or divert revenues collected for their own account. All these factors demonstrate the close connection between under-taxation, corruption and tax avoidance. As this study argues, in the absence of counteractive measures, the Government will collect only a fraction of potential taxes, thus losing revenues required to finance development projects. The study establishes that Tanzania counteracts tax avoidance and tax evasion through anti-avoidance legislation. Tanzania also has accountability measures, which impose restraints on the exercise of public power and prevent corruption. The study concludes that although Tanzania has a competitive fiscal regime, anti-avoidance legislation and systems of accountability, the level of Government's tax revenue nevertheless depends on institutional capacity to detect, prevent and penalize tax avoidance schemes and corruption.

The subject of tax avoidance and tax reduction within the framework of the income tax legislation has so far not been dealt with in any work in South Africa and this is, therefore, the first work of its kind. My approach in this work has generally been, firstly, to set out the effect of the law in the light of the court decisions, the depart- mental practice and my own interpretations; secondly, to consider and discuss the extent to which taxpayers can arrange their affairs within the letter of the law in order to avoid or reduce tax and the prejudicial effect on the public revenue, and finally to offer my criticisms, suggestions and recommendations. It was inevitable that during the course of my studies and investigation into the workings of the Income Tax Act and the incidence of the taxes levied, various anomalies, inequities and obscurities would present themselves. Although some of these bear no or little relation to the problem of tax avoidance and tax reduction, I have nevertheless considered it necessary to deal with them in this work. Often they lead to results quite opposed to well-established commercial and accountancy practice. I have attempted to show how this conflict that exists between the Income Tax Act and the accountant's and business man's approach frequently results in the taxable income not coinciding with the profits as ascertained on the basis of ordinary, commercial and accountancy principles. Many of these aspects have up till now received very scant thought, and I have, therefore, felt that they should be clarified with a view to making both the taxpaying public and the fiscus fully conscious of them. The legislator and the taxpayer should be ever mindful of anomalies, inequities and obscurities in the law, because only by continual discussion and criticism can one hope for their ultimate eradication and hence for a better and fairer tax system.

No abstract available Copyright / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Mercantile Law / unrestricted

"The Income Tax Acts themselves impose a territorial limit; either that from which the taxable income is derived must be situate in the United Kingdom or the person whose income is to be taxed must be resident there", per Lord Herschell in Colquhoun v Brooks (1889) 2 TC 490 at 498 These remarks by Lord Herschell even though directed at the United Kingdom tax system in 1889 seem to capture the situation in the new tax law in Lesotho. A recurring question for any tax system to date is is taxation by either residence and/or source appropriate? This question inspired my research into the examination of the new Lesotho Income Tax Order No 9 of 1993.