Income tax in South Africa is levied in terms of the Income Tax Act, 58 of 1962 (the South African Income Tax Act) on taxable income, which by definition, is arrived at by deducting from ''gross income" receipts and accruals that are exempt from tax as well as deductions and allowances provided for in the Act. The South African Income Tax Act provides no guidance with regard to the taxation of income and expenditure from illegal activities. In this mini thesis, case law and legislation is reviewed in an attempt to provide clarity on the tax consequences of income and expenses arising from illegal activities. An overview is provided of the taxation of income and expenditure in respect of illegal activities in the United States of America, Australia and New Zealand. Similarities are found between the American, Australian, New Zealand and South African tax regimes in relation to the taxation of income earned from illegal activities, but there appears to be more certainty in America, Australia and New Zealand with regard to the deduction of expenses arising from illegal activities. In South Africa, taxpayers earning income from ongoing illegal activities will, in principle, comply with the definition of “trade” as defined in section 1 of the South African Income Tax Act. However, this is contrary to the view of the South African Revenue Service that illegal activities do not meet the definition of “trade”, a viewpoint that may not hold if challenged in court. Recommendations are made for the amendment of the South African Income Tax Act to specifically provide for the inclusion in “gross income” of income from illegal activities and to prohibit the deduction of expenditure arising from illegal activities.

This research studies the practical person principle as it was introduced in the case of Commissioner for Inland Revenue v Lever Brothers and Unilever Ltd 1946 AD 441. In its time the Lever Brothers case was a seminal judgment in South Africa’s tax jurisprudence and the practical person principle was a decisive criterion for the determination of source of income. The primary goal of this research was a critical analysis the practical man principle. This involved an analysis of the extent to which this principle requires judges to adopt a criterion that is too flexible for legitimate judicial decision-making. The extent to which the practical person principle creates a clash between a philosophical approach to law and an approach that is based on common sense or practicality was also debated. Finally, it was considered whether adopting a philosophical approach to determining the source of income could overcome the problems associated with the practical approach. A doctrinal methodology was applied to the documentary data consisting of the South African and Australian Income Tax Acts, South African and other case law, historical records and the writings of scholars. From the critical analysis of the practical person principle it was concluded that the anthropomorphised form of the principle gives rise to several problems that may be overcome by looking to the underlying operation of the principle. Further analysis of this operation, however, revealed deeper problems in that the principle undermines the doctrine of judicial precedent, legal certainty and the rule of law. Accordingly a practical approach to determining the source of income is undesirable and unconstitutional. Further research was conducted into the relative merits of a philosophical approach to determining source of income and it was argued that such an approach could provide a more desirable solution to determining source of income as well as approaching legal problems more generally.

The aim of this thesis was to analyse and compare tax morale and its determinants in South Africa and Zimbabwe, as well as in Zimbabwe in different economic environments. The study applied the standard models of tax evasion, game theory, prospect theory, agent-based theory and slippery slope framework to explain the variability in the determinants of tax morale between South Africa and Zimbabwe under different economic and political environments. The study becomes novel in that it provides a comparative analysis of the determinants of the tax morale between Zimbabwe and South Africa under contrasting economic and political time scales. The study also tested a new variable, namely hunger, on how it affects tax morale in Zimbabwe and South Africa. The study was guided by quantitative research which was used to inform the study. Data was collected using questionnaires from the 2010-2014 and 2017-2020 World Values Survey (WVS). For Zimbabwe, Wave 6 and Wave 7 had a sample size of 1500 and 1200 respectively. The Wave 6 survey for South Africa had 3531 participants. Data was analysed using STATA software 2013 Version. The study’s dependent variable, tax morale and independent variables included marital status, age, income level, employment and religion among others, and analysed them using the Ordered Logit Model. The Ordered Logit Model was used to empirically model the effects of the identified variables on tax morale. The study concludes with an understanding of how tax morale and its determinants is crucial for governments in their bid to boost voluntary compliance. Also, different economic milieus for a particular country affect the level of tax morale significantly. Tax morale was established to be high when Zimbabwe was experiencing economic growth due to the introduction of multi-currency, herein called the dollarization period, and the opposite was true for the post-dollarization era. Surprisingly, the study’s results showed that Zimbabweans have a higher tax morale than South Africans, who have better standards of living. In addition, the determinants of tax morale also differ from one economic situation to another and from one country to another. Corruption, which is a menace in both countries under study, has proven to be an important factor that influences tax morale. Results of all the models show that demographic factors have little effect on tax morale. The study introduced an important variable of hunger in its analysis of determinants of tax morale. Though this variable was insignificant for South Africa, the study showed that there is a negative relationship between hunger and tax morale for Zimbabwe in both economic situations. Based on the thesis’s findings, policy makers should consider the eradication of corruption and hunger in order to boost tax morale, which in turn improves tax compliance. Also, policy makers should include improvement in the perception of democracy in the mix of enhancement strategies of tax compliance. / Economics / D. Com. (Economics)

This study investigates, identifies and provides flowchart summaries of the various forms of taxation in South Africa and to a lesser extent Greece affecting South African residents who own or have financed fixed property in Greece. These residents have to comply with the Income Tax and Estate Duty Acts in South Africa and the relevant taxation laws in Greece. An amnesty gave South Africans an opportunity to voluntarily declare their fixed properties and to regularise their foreign assets and tax affairs without the fear prosecution. The practical application of the various taxation provisions in both countries is extremely complex and often residents are not even aware that certain provisions apply to them. In addition there is the risk of paying nearly double the marginal rate of Income Tax and Estate Duty in South Africa and double taxation on donations. This study also provides suggestions and possible solutions to problems identified. / Taxation / M. Tech. (Taxation)

Currently the gold mining industry is taxed differently to other industries. It is taxed on a two-tier system. The nature of the gold mining tax formula encourages the mining of marginal gold ores. Firms that are involved in the mining of gold are subjected to a "tax tunnel", which is a tax free revenue portion. This is against the equity principle of taxation because it separates companies on the basis of what they produce and not on the basis of income generated. The South African government is in the process of implementing a revenue-based royalty system. The majority of firms in the gold mining industry feel that for the benefit of economic growth the government must consider implementing a profit-based royalty system. This study analyses the gold mining tax formula in comparison to the flat rate tax. It also analyses the reasons for the differential treatment of the gold mining industry. / Economics / M.Comm.

This study investigates, identifies and provides flowchart summaries of the various forms of taxation in South Africa and to a lesser extent Greece affecting South African residents who own or have financed fixed property in Greece. These residents have to comply with the Income Tax and Estate Duty Acts in South Africa and the relevant taxation laws in Greece. An amnesty gave South Africans an opportunity to voluntarily declare their fixed properties and to regularise their foreign assets and tax affairs without the fear prosecution. The practical application of the various taxation provisions in both countries is extremely complex and often residents are not even aware that certain provisions apply to them. In addition there is the risk of paying nearly double the marginal rate of Income Tax and Estate Duty in South Africa and double taxation on donations. This study also provides suggestions and possible solutions to problems identified. / Taxation / M. Tech. (Taxation)

Currently the gold mining industry is taxed differently to other industries. It is taxed on a two-tier system. The nature of the gold mining tax formula encourages the mining of marginal gold ores. Firms that are involved in the mining of gold are subjected to a "tax tunnel", which is a tax free revenue portion. This is against the equity principle of taxation because it separates companies on the basis of what they produce and not on the basis of income generated. The South African government is in the process of implementing a revenue-based royalty system. The majority of firms in the gold mining industry feel that for the benefit of economic growth the government must consider implementing a profit-based royalty system. This study analyses the gold mining tax formula in comparison to the flat rate tax. It also analyses the reasons for the differential treatment of the gold mining industry. / Economics / M.Comm.

The study focussed on the research question namely: “How will the introduction of new ecological taxes impact the South African agricultural sector?” To answer the question, eight international eco-taxes were selected and further investigated. The nature and history of each eco-tax was examined. The effects or expected effects (where implementation have not yet taken place) of the eco-taxes on the agricultural sectors of the foreign countries, were then considered. The study continued by considering the possible impact on South African agriculture, should these taxes be implemented in South Africa. This was accomplished by extrapolating the foreign effects previously investigated. Mindful of findings, recommendations were then made of what eco-taxes could be implemented which will not impede South African agriculture. It was concluded that the British Climate Change Levy and Climate Change Agreement scheme, Australian Carbon Farming Initiative and Swedish meat consumption tax could be considered for implementation. / Financial Accounting / M. Phil (Accounting Science)

The purpose of this study was to develop a conceptual framework to aid in the reduction of the taxation gap in South Africa (SA) through the use of third-party data and information technology. In order to develop a framework to prevent non-compliance, an understanding was required of the areas that would enable such a framework to be successful. Since governance, risk and compliance (GRC) is an emerging area in the corporate and information technology domain, organisations, including revenue bodies, are confronted with an increased risk and a growing number of regulatory, legal and other compliance requirements. The frame of reference for integrated governance, risk and compliance was used as base to determine the areas that had to be included in the new feasibility framework for the South African Revenue Service (SARS) in order for the framework to enhance compliance. Thus, the frame of reference for integrated governance, risk and compliance provided a contextual understanding of the areas that had to be reviewed in order to ensure that the framework that was developed adhered to all aspects that would make it a suitable and acceptable framework within SARS. Since the new conceptual framework will be used to address compliance and risk management, existing frameworks had to be considered – one in particular, namely the Compliance Risk Management Process as described by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The OECD guidance note outlines compliance risk management as a structured iterative process for the “systematic identification, assessment, ranking, and treatment of tax compliance risks” that will enhance decision-making. This structural process is depicted in the Compliance Risk Management Process which can be used by revenue bodies, including SARS. Thus, once the different areas had been identified, discussed and understood, the existing Compliance Risk Management Process as described by the OECD was discussed to identify how the new conceptual framework that would be developed as part of this study could enhance this existing framework. Finally the framework was developed by making use of an extended literature review on the main characteristics of ‘big data’, which was then tested with the use of two selected case studies and concluded with a comparative analysis of the case studies. Overall, the framework will aid to determine whether it is feasible to continue with a project to use third-party data and information technology to automate the detection and prevention of taxation gaps before spending too many resources without any significant effect on diminishing the taxation gap. It is therefore recommended that SARS implement this new feasibility framework as a pre-check in order to determine whether:  there is third-party data available for a specific type of transaction that will result in the reduction of the taxation gap;  the third-party data is reliable and usable. If not, which changes are required from the third party in order to ensure that it can be linked to specific taxpayers (for example, such as capturing additional data or changing the format of existing data that had been captured in order to ease the extraction process);  any tax acts or legal aspects should be enhanced to ensure all relevant taxpayer information is available from a specific third party; and  both organisations (SARS and the third party) have the relevant information technology to ensure SARS can extract, store and manipulate the data in a timely fashion in order to obtain the maximum effect. In conclusion, a new feasibility framework was developed as part of this study in order to aid SARS with the reduction of the taxation gap by using third-party data and information technology. The purpose of the new feasibility framework is to identify whether there is third-party data available and whether any changes are required to the data in order to provide SARS with a mechanism to link it to specific taxpayers. This will provide SARS with guidance as to the steps that are required in order to automate the process of collecting third-party data through by using information technology. The feasibility framework would also indicate whether it is feasible to continue with such an automation project before exhausting too many resources without any significant effect on reducing the taxation gap. / Taxation / M. Phil. (Accounting Science)

MCom / Department of Business Management / Africans are, by nature, collectivist people. This is especially true for countries such as South Africa, where people live their lives as a community – they celebrate life’s achievements together and mourn life’s tragic moments together. Africans support each other as one big family, at least theoretically, however, in the recent past, effects of urbanisation and globalisation have reshaped, reorganised, and reoriented African families. The once communal and collectivist views towards life (that the community or family comes first before the individual) are fast being replaced by individualistic perspectives towards life. The nuclear family is rapidly taking centre stage. In the process, individual needs are crowding out those of the family and community. Communal needs are now being viewed as a burden. To describe this ‘new’ burden, modern society has coined a term to express its mixed emotions towards its responsibility towards the extended family; they call it “black tax”. As a form of tax, supporting one’s extended family results in greater good, at least in the long-run, however, in the short-run, high levels of indebtedness and growing personal needs make one’s obligation to the family almost seems morally wrong, insensitive, and illegal, hence, the word “black,” as in the black market – an informal underground market that is often immoral and illegal. By extension, contemporary South Africans seem to be saying that whilst looking after one’s extended family in the 21st century is immoral, insensitive, unreasonable, and expensive, we still will try our best to be play our part, whenever and wherever we can. Clearly, black tax affects the lives of individuals, particularly those being black taxed. Despite this growing phenomenon, the literature has largely ignored the effect of black tax on the life of ordinary people. The few available studies focus mostly on black tax within the middle class, employed, working population. Very little studies have looked at the effect of black tax on entrepreneurs, as they too are not immune to black tax. It was, therefore, opportune for this dissertation to address this gap within the literature. Consequently, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of black tax on micro-entrepreneurs, as well as to identify coping strategies employed by the latter to balance business needs and communal expectations. A qualitative case study was conducted in which 12 entrepreneurs from the Thulamela Local Municipality area participated. Data were collected using in-depth interviews. After transcription, the interviews were analysed by means of thematic analysis using ATLAS.ti. Results indicate a high prevalence of various forms of black tax, challenges as well as well-structured coping strategies, as employed by the entrepreneurs. The value of this dissertation is that it is among the first in contributing towards understanding the impact of black tax on micro-entrepreneurship within the South African context. Several theoretical and practical implications have been suggested. / NRF