This dissertation is mainly a study of the nature of trusts and their daily operational limitations, which are frequently misunderstood and/or misused. My research question was whether a trust could be sold, and if so, what the tax implications of such a ‘sale’ would be. The overall approach was to perform a literature review and a critical analysis of current information available on South African trust law and the Transfer Duty Act 40 of 1949. Many studies have been undertaken in the past on various aspects of my subject, but the subject has never been studied as a cohesive whole. These studies formed the basis of the literature review. To arrive at an answer, an analysis of the available literature and South African judgments was undertaken. My concluding chapter gives an indication of whether a trust can be ‘sold’, what the current transfer duty implications are and what it is submitted they should be. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / hb2014 / Mercantile Law / unrestricted

From all over the globe the inequality between the rich and the poor is a topic that is debated politically and socially. Wealth tax is often mentioned as an easy solution to reduce this inequality effectively. Even in South Africa cries for a wealth tax have been heard following Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu’s comments that such a tax can help reduce the effect of past injustices. The imposition of a wealth tax has various advantages and disadvantages that are strongly debated by the proponents and opponents of the tax. The impact of these advantages and disadvantages has however not been measured and quantified up to date. Although the disadvantages seem to outweigh the advantages, it seems that there is some scope for a wealth tax to be politically motivated. The dawning of the modern era has however changed the landscape for tax policies. Global mobility has resulted in individuals being able to choose where they work, live and invest. Taxes have been proved to be a factor that influences these decisions of individuals on where to live and invest. It is therefore becoming increasingly important to have tax policies that are competitive in comparison to peer countries. This study focused on determining how competitive South Africa’s tax policies are, relating to wealthy individuals, compared to the equivalent taxes in other African countries with similar sized economies. The study consists of qualitative, non-empirical research performed in the form of a literature review. The study’s finding is that South Africa has more types of taxes imposed on wealthy individuals than any other of the sampled countries. In addition, the taxes imposed are more often than not substantially higher than the equivalent charged by its peers. This could have a detrimental effect when investors start to realise that they could optimise the resources available to them by choosing not to work and live in South Africa, but would rather select one of its neighbouring countries. Not only will potential new investors be discouraged from investing, but the question also arises at which point South African residents will start to seek their fortune elsewhere. Based on these findings, it seems that there is no scope for imposing yet another wealth tax in South Africa at present. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / lmchunu2014 / Taxation / unrestricted

Estate massing is one of the estate planning instruments used by estate planners, especially with regards to marriages in community of property; nonetheless any two people (or more) may mass their whole estates or a part thereof. Section 37 of the Administration of Estates Act describes massed estates and therefore it also supplies the requirements for estate massing and will be explored in this study. Estate massing gives rise to tax consequences that would not have arised normally. Due to estate massing there will be tax consequences for the predeceased testator and the surviving testator(s) and even in some cases there will be tax consequences for the heirs. In this study, attention is paid to the tax consequences of estate duty, donations tax, transfer duty, VAT and CGT. The purpose of this study is to determine the difference between the consequences of estate massing should it happen in accordance with the requirements of the Administration of Estates Act and should it not happen in accordance with the requirements of the Administration of Estates Act. / LLM (Estate Law), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Estate massing is one of the estate planning instruments used by estate planners, especially with regards to marriages in community of property; nonetheless any two people (or more) may mass their whole estates or a part thereof. Section 37 of the Administration of Estates Act describes massed estates and therefore it also supplies the requirements for estate massing and will be explored in this study. Estate massing gives rise to tax consequences that would not have arised normally. Due to estate massing there will be tax consequences for the predeceased testator and the surviving testator(s) and even in some cases there will be tax consequences for the heirs. In this study, attention is paid to the tax consequences of estate duty, donations tax, transfer duty, VAT and CGT. The purpose of this study is to determine the difference between the consequences of estate massing should it happen in accordance with the requirements of the Administration of Estates Act and should it not happen in accordance with the requirements of the Administration of Estates Act. / LLM (Estate Law), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013