The primary objective of estate planning is to meet the short-term and long-term financial needs of the planner and to ensure a smooth transition of the planner's estate on passing on, in keeping with the needs and wishes of the individual. The implementation of an estate plan does hold many tax advantages and care should be taken to ensure that in the process of tax structuring, we do not lose sight of other important objectives and wishes of the client, as well not contravene any legislation which may render the tax benefits null and void. Estate Duty is levied on an estate at a flat rate of 20 % on the net value of an estate and the planner needs to ensure that his financial affairs are structured in a manner to take maximum advantage of the deductions and abatements available. This will ensure that the duty payable is kept to a minimum. In the process of estate planning the planner must always be aware of the other taxes that could reduce or negate the intended estate duty savings for example donations tax, capital gains tax and income tax. There are many estate planning techniques that can be implemented to meet the objective of a smooth transition of the estate as well as being tax efficient. The nature of everyone's affairs and potential estates vary considerably. As a result there are fairly simple techniques for planners with uncomplicated financial affairs. These would normally be appropriate to salaried employees and smaller business owner's who do not amass a large estate over their lifetime. For high net worth individuals the techniques can be fairly complex, integrating the setting up of companies and/or trusts in order to achieve the planner's objectives and tax efficiency. Due to the specialized and complex nature of certain entities specific estate planning techniques have been designed. With the relaxation of exchange control regulations many South African residents now have offshore assets which form part of their dutiable estate. Careful consideration has to be given to this area since it can be complex with different rules applying to different offshore centres. This is dependant on whether South Africa has a double taxation treaty with that country or not. Income tax and estate planning are inter-related and structures designed to reduce estate duty may have differing consequences from an income tax point of view. This occurs in particular when the use of trusts and donations are envisaged and care should be taken that cognizance of all the anti-avoidance provisions of the Income Tax Act are carefully considered. We can be certain of two things in life "death and taxes". The timing of one's death is an unknown mystery but tax is defined in terms of legislation. With careful planning one can take maximum advantage of the available "tax breaks" with the flexibility to react to changes in legislation, so that the plan can always meet the wishes of the planner irrespective when he/she may pass on (Personal Finance:2004) / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2004.

In some point in time, an employer would require the services of an independent contractor. Very often one would find that the employer does not have sufficient information in his possession to make a decision to either engage the services of an independent contractor or an employee. Most employers would be aware of their requirements should they choose to engage the services of an employee, however the problem or lack of information arises when the employer decides to engage the services of an independent contractor. This might seem as a simple decision; however an investigation into the taxation of independent contractors proved otherwise. Generally an employer would engage the services of an independent contractor to perform a specific task and pay him for that service. However there are various mechanisms in place that would deem that independent contractor to be an employee. Should this be the case, the employer would be faced with extra costs in the form of interest, penalties and additional levies if he did not deduct employees tax from the independent contractor and pay this over to the Commissioner for South African Revenue Services.. The other taxes that are effected by an independent contractor who is deemed to be an employee are, Pay As You Earn, Skills Development Levy, Unemployment Insurance Contributions, Regional Service Levies and the Labour Laws. It is imperative that the employer understands the various laws in respect of the engagement of an independent contractor. Failure to do so or ignorance of the law would be a disadvantage for the employer. The investigation into the tax implications of independent contractor's would highlight the requirements and problem areas that one should be aware of. This would include how to identify if a contractor is truly and independent contractor or deemed to be an employee. This distinction is very important especially to the employer. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2004.

The purpose of this technical report is not to establish a definitive answer as to the validity and suitability of a business trust as a new form of a business entity, but is aimed at addressing the uncertainties that have emanated from the use of a traditional trust structure as a business vehicle. A critical analysis of the recommendations made by the Margo Commission that the taxation treatment of business trusts and companies should be aligned in order to avoid the tax abuse of business trusts will also be undertaken. Globally trusts, especially discretionary inter vivos trusts, are formed purely for carrying on a business including owning and letting of property. However, there are divergent views whether a trust can be used for commercial purposes. Honore (1985 : Preface) is of the opinion that "The use of trusts for business purposes - no new phenomenon, since testators long since saw the advantage of setting up a trust to carry on their enterprises after their death - raises complex issues of control. It should not be assumed without thorough investigation of the past record and future possibilities of business trusts that there is no room for a tertium quid between the commercial partnership and the incorporated company". Wunsh (1986 : 561 - 82) says that a business trust provides a method of setting up or continuing a business alternative to an incorporated company or close corporation (Honore, 1992 : 74). In general a business trust is a pure trust the main object of which is to carry on a business enterprise with a view to making a profit and distributing it amongst the beneficiaries. Notwithstanding the fact that the Trust Property Control Act which controls all forms of trusts was enacted in 1988, Honore (1992 : Preface) is of the view that business trusts call for some further regulation, but not for the full panoply detailed in the Companies Act or even the Close Corporations Act. The analysis of the recommendation of the Margo Commission to align the taxation treatment of business trusts and companies shows that business trusts are not close substitutes for companies as they are 'pure trusts' formed purely for protecting the founder's business for the benefit of the beneficiaries. Although there may be similarities, there are also dissimilarities between business trusts and companies. Further, there are no compelling reasons for changing the current tax regime since taxing business trusts like companies will not necessarily improve equity or efficiency and particularly prevent perceived tax abuse. Tax abuse should be addressed at its source through better enforcement action to limit tax abuse opportunities. In conclusion it will be shown that although a business trust can at present provide certain tax advantages while still preserving the limited liability of the trustees, legislation is gradually being introduced which will iii result in trading trusts being taxed on the same basis as companies. However, the researcher submits that the legislature will not be solving the problem by aligning the tax treatment of business trusts and companies. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of Kwazulu-Natal, 2004.

South Africans emerged from the darkness and entered the into the light of freedom in 1994 when the first democratic elections where held in South Africa. This liberty was entrenched with the signing of the Constitution in December 1996 by President Nelson Mandela at Sharpeville. Taxpayers have also benefitted under the Constitution. This dissertation examines the Constitution and how it applies to taxpayers and their rights. It examines the legislation which regulates the tax authorities and how they apply this legislation. It then examines the rights of taxpayers and how the Constitutional Court interprets the Constitution in respect of taxpayers rights. The dissertation also examines the remedies that taxpayers have when they feel that their rights have been encroached upon. The correct order that should be followed by taxpayers in protecting their rights is discussed. Recent proposals announced by the tax authorities, in an attempt to assist taxpayers, are examined. Finally, common law and practical problems that face taxpayers are discussed and thereafter a short conclusion is drawn as to the rights of taxpayers. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.

Small businesses constitute the bulk of enterprises in all economies in the world. Storey (2000:7) states that 95% of all firms in the European Community can be classified as small and that they provide more than half the jobs in this community. Such firms make a major contribution to employment and wealth creation, which appears to be increasing over time. It is thus not surprising to find that numerous studies have been conducted globally regarding entrepreneurship, and the value that small businesses add to the economies of countries. South Africa is no exception and most universities have added entrepreneurship programmes to their curricula. The study of small business however proved not be such a simple procedure mainly due to the following reasons: Firstly, there is no single definition of a small firm, secondly there are numerous small firms and it is difficult to estimate how many exist at any point in time as many don't register their existence. This leads to problems for researchers when estimating the size and contribution of the small business sector in any one country not even to mention the difficulties in trying to conduct comparative studies between countries or regions. Despite these problems it is believed that some good has come from the research and it can be argued that research with limitations are better than no research. The lack of loan funding has been given as one of the major constraints faced by small business owners who either wanted to start-up a business or who wanted to expand an existing business. It was the objective of this dissertation to investigate various issues regarding small business funding. The relationship between entrepreneurs and funding institutions was investigated, the utilization and source of funds, as well as other factors that influence the funding process if any, were also examined. In order to achieve the objectives of this study a group of entrepreneurs in die Kwazulu-Natal Midlands were interviewed with the help of a questionnaire. The study focussed on businesses in the Howick and Pietermaritzburg area. Questionnaires were initially posted to firms but the overall response rate was low and this necessitated the use of personal interviews. Once the quantitative data was collected it was captured using SPSS and analysed using Chi-Square tests, correlation and regression analysis. The findings of the study mostly correspond and confirm the findings of previous research done on the topic of financing small business and the various constraints affecting its performance. Most of the respondents did find the lack of finance as a major constraint during the start up phase of the business and used their own or family money to start their own businesses. The study also focussed on the relationship between the entrepreneur and his financier and it was found that most of the respondents had a good relationship with their financiers. The threat of competitors was listed as the major nonfinancial constraint affecting businesses surveyed in the sample. The supply of a loan to a firm was found to be related to the ability of the firm demonstrating the ability to generate high sales, rather than to the ability to produce a business plan. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

Developing countries have low levels of capital. They are usually net borrowers, supplementing their low domestic savings with external finance. During the 1970s and 1980s many developing countries borrowed from international financial institutions on a large scale. Surprisingly, private citizens of these developing countries were investing in foreign assets at an increasing rate. This observation raised a great deal of interest among academics, policy-makers and the general public concerning capital flight from developing countries . Some of the effects of capital flight on the domestic economy of a developing country are as follows : Firstly, capital flight causes a reduction in available resources to finance domestic investment. This leads to a decline in the rate of capital formation and adversely affects the developing country's economic growth rate. Secondly, capital flight reduces the government's ability to tax all the income of its residents because the government experiences difficulty in taxing wealth held abroad as well as income that is generated from that wealth. Capital flight thus reduces government revenues and the ability to service external debt. Thirdly, as the government revenues fall with the erosion of a tax base there is an increased need to borrow from international financial institutions thereby increasing the foreign debt burden. Capital flight conforms to the portfolio allocation theory , which states that capital flows are determined by rates of return and risk. Capital flows respond positively to higher rates of return and negatively to risk. The present study investigates the effect of political risk on the magnitude of capital flight in South Africa over the period 1960-1995. South Africa is a good test case because the country experienced high political risk and capital flight for many of the years between 1960 and 1995. We replicate the Fedderke and Liu's study (1999) by recollecting the data from original sources. After conducting tests for cointegration we estimate the impact of political risk measured by a political instability index on capital flight. We find support for the hypothesis that higher instability results in greater capital flight. This is the result we are able to replicate thus supporting Fedderke and Liu. We also use our results to show how capital flight can depreciate the exchange rate. Finally we point to. some possible policy implications. / Thesis (M.Comm.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002.

Section 20 of the Income Tax Act, No 58 of 1962 allows a taxpayer that has sustained an assessed loss to carry forward the balance of assessed loss and be set off against income earned in the future years. In addition, the loss sustained from one source may be set off the income from another. The assessed loss may be carried forward indefinitely, provided the taxpayer does not fall foul to a provision that restricts the continued use of the assessed loss. The taxpayer's right to retain, carry forward and utilise the assessed loss will be lost if: • The taxpayer's debt(s) are reduced or extinguished, without it being settled. • When a company cease trading. • Also in the case of a company, when income is channelled into it solely for the utilisation of the assessed loss. A recent amendment prevents certain individuals from setting off the assessed loss sustained in certain activities against the income of another. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2004.

In 2007, the government of Rwanda launched a medium-term programme of four years, as stated in its Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS). A part of this programme is a prudent monetary policy which is one of the responsibilities of the National Bank of Rwanda (NBR), especially via its role of controlling liquidity in the national economy for ensuring macroeconomic stability. The National Bank of Rwanda adjusts base money to ensure that the level of the monetary aggregate M2 is consistent with price stability. To effectively implement this monetary policy, two conditions are necessarily required: (i) a stable demand function for money; (ii) a stable long-run relationship between the money stock and the price level. Using a cointegration analysis we investigated the effectiveness of this policy through examining whether these two conditions are fulfilled for the years 1996:Q1 to 2008:Q3. This study confirmed the stability of the money demand function and found that the money stock in the Rwandan economy and prices trend together in the long-run. Thus, targeting the monetary aggregate M2 is a good indicator of the price level. Moreover, we found that at a five point six per cent (5.6%) significance level, the Rwandan money market needs 3.5 quarters to eliminate a half disequilibrium discrepancy in the money demand model. At a six point five per cent (6.5%) significance level, the Rwandan money market needs 4.5 quarters to eliminate a half disequilibrium discrepancy in the money supply model. Monetary policy implemented by the National Bank of Rwanda remains effective as it is still possible to achieve the overall objective of price stability through targeting the monetary aggregate M2. / Thesis (M.Comm.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

For any expenditure to qualify as a deduction against income, the Income Tax Act No 58 of 1962 as amended (the Act), requires that the expenditure fall within the ambit of section 11 (a) (the general deduction formula) read together with section 23 (g). What may be considered a prudent and proper deduction from an accounting point of view is of no consequence, unless, that deduction is permissible under the Act. Consequently, a deduction will only be allowed when it is incurred in the production of income. The deductibility of interest has always been a vexing question. Although its deductibility is determined in terms of the general deduction formula, the courts have held widely differing views on the subject of its deductibility. The taxpayer's purpose in borrowing money is an important factor in determining the deductibility of interest. If the money was borrowed for the purposes of earning income, the interest will be deductible. It is immaterial that the borrowed money was not applied in a manner that produced income; as long as the taxpayer's purpose in borrowing the money was to use it in the production of income. The courts have, however, failed to settle the issue. Similar cases have resulted in different judgements. It is therefore essential that taxpayer carefully applies sections 11 (a) and 23 (g) to determine the deductibility of interest before obtaining financing for business purposes. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2004.