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SAIT Trending Topics

Tax Administration & Interpretation
(SARS and Office of the Tax Ombud)

Guide for Completion and Submission of Employees Tax Certificates 2021
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
Guide for Validation Rules Applicable to Reconciliation Declarations 2021
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
MEDIA STATEMENT: TAXPAYERS' RIGHTS MATTER

The Office of the Tax Ombud (OTO) is redoubling its efforts to create awareness about its services and protect the rights of taxpayers this filing season, with the launch of an informative digital awareness campaign #TaxpayersRightsMatter.

Tuesday, September 15, 2020
Tax Ombud

TAX CASES

XYZ CC v Commissioner of the South Africa Revenue Service (IT14157) [2019] ZATC 6 (7 November 2019)
Friday, January 3, 2020
ABC Company v Commissioner of the South African Revenue Services (14106) [2019] ZATC 7 (31 January 2019)
Friday, January 3, 2020
Taxpayer v Commissioner for the South African Revenue Services (13798; 13931; 14294) [2019] ZATC 5 (17 September 2019)
Thursday, January 2, 2020

Legislative & Policy
(National Treasury & Parliament)

43496 03-07 NationalRegulation

Regulation Gazette No. 10177 Regulasiekoerant N.B. The Government Printing Works will not be held responsible for the quality of “Hard Copies” or “Electronic Files” submitted for publication purposes AIDS HELPLINE: 0800-0123-22 Prevention is the cure Government Gazette
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...

Friday, July 3, 2020
Ursula Vercueil
MonthlyIndexJune2020

Government Gazette
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National Separate Gazettehttp://www.gpwonline.co.za/Gazettes/Gazettes/MonthlyIndexJune2020.pdf
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265KB

Friday, July 3, 2020
Ursula Vercueil
43451 19-06 NatTreasury

2019): Regulations under 19(b) of the Carbon Tax Act for purposes of Section 10 for
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affect the ability of the carbon tax to address the climate change
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assigned, and -"Carbon Tax Act ", means the Carbon Tax Act, 2019 (Act No. 15 of
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Friday, June 19, 2020
Ursula Vercueil

Call For Comment
SAIT member comments can be directed to taxpolicyadmin@thesait.org.za

​31 August 2020 New!



Next due date for comments :

Thursday, August 13, 2020
SARS
​18 September 2020



Next due date for comments :

Thursday, August 13, 2020
SARS
​15 June 2020



Next due date for comments :

Wednesday, June 10, 2020
SARS
Click here to view all SAIT submissions

International and Regional News
(OECD and ATAF)

Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Costa Rica deposit their instruments of ratification and France extends the application for the Multilateral BEPS Convention

Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Costa Rica have become the latest countries to deposit their instruments of ratification for the BEPS Multilateral Instrument, which now covers almost 1700 bilateral tax treaties.

Tuesday, September 22, 2020
Tax Inspectors Without Borders to release its Annual Report 2020 on Monday, 28 September

TIWB will release its Annual Report 2020 on Monday, 28 September 2020 at 09:00 EST/15:00 CEST.

Monday, September 21, 2020
Advisory Group for Co-operation with Partner Economies Annual Meeting

Representatives from 40 countries and 5 international and regional organisations, along with delegations from the OECD’s Multilateral Tax Centres, met virtually on 15 September 2020 to discuss the OECD’s Global Relations Programme in taxation, at their 17th meeting of the Advisory Group for Co-operation with Partner economies.

Tuesday, September 15, 2020

SAIT PUBLICATIONS

CPD Events

2020 Webinar: Monthly Tax Update - October
2020 Webinar: Monthly Tax Update - October
Transfer pricing series 2020: The important principles, current challenges and the impact of Covid-19 - Full Series
Transfer pricing series 2020: The important principles, current challenges and the impact of Covid-19 - Full Series
2020 Practical Q&A with Prof Jackie Arendse - Full series
2020 Practical Q&A with Prof Jackie Arendse - Full series

PROFESSIONAL INSIGHT

SARS TO NAME AND SHAME TAX DODGERS

Is SARS allowed to “name and shame”?

There are very limited circumstances where taxpayer information may be disclosed, such as divulging the information in terms of a court order, if the taxpayer gives written consent or where a specific Act expressly overrides the secrecy provisions.

Section 74, however, determines that the Commissioner may publish the name of a taxpayer where they are convicted of a tax offence. For those who believe a “tax offence” is...

Tuesday, August 4, 2020
Condition of the tax equity market

Many developers report trouble raising tax equity this year for renewable energy projects.

Tuesday, July 28, 2020
The “discrepancy” SMS from SARS – what should you do?

Why are you getting this SMS?

This communication appears a result on SARS’ new 3 phased automated filing process. During Phase 1 (15 April – 31 May), third party providers submitted information that will be used to auto-assess taxpayers. Third party providers include employers, banks, insurers, retirement fund administrators, retirement funds and medical schemes.

During Phase 2 (1 June – 31 August), taxpayers and tax practitioners...

Tuesday, July 28, 2020
CONSTITUTIONAL COURT GIVES HEFTY SARS BLOW TO FRANCHISE INDUSTRY

Talk about bad timing. The Constitutional Court on 21 July 2020, after some 250 days of deliberation, decided that the way in which many franchise operators have been claiming their tax expenses does not rank for tax relief. SARS must be extremely pleased with the win, only the 4th ever tax related judgement delivered by the Constitutional Court since its inception. However, the harm to our franchise industry may be severe and those who survive the Covid-19 pandemic will now also...

Wednesday, July 22, 2020
IMPORTANT COURT WIN FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNER AGAINST SARS

The Pretoria High Court granted on 14 July 2020, a small business owner, on an urgent basis relief against the South African Revenue Service (SARS) who depleted the taxpayer’s bank account without following due process. The court ordered SARS to set aside the third appointment of Absa who collected R1.3m on behalf of SARS from the taxpayer’s bank account in terms of Section 179 of the Tax Administration Act (TAA).

The Court further ordered SARS to repay the amount collected from the...

Tuesday, July 21, 2020
WHEN SARS UNLAWFULLY HELP THEMSELVES TO YOUR BANK BALANCE

Everybody knows SARS is under collection pressure and they have grown rather fond of appointing 3rd parties, such as banks, to recover outstanding tax debts directly, which leaves taxpayers stunned. This is a quick and effective debt recovery measure, but the question is what about the legality of such appointment?

These appointments may result in taxpayers suffering severe financial hardship, but worse still, it appears taxpayers have very limited options to find redress...

Tuesday, July 14, 2020
Norton Rose Fulbright advises HealthEZ on all aspects of its sale to Abry Partners

Norton Rose Fulbright advised HealthEZ on all corporate, healthcare, regulatory, benefits, antitrust, real estate and tax matters for this complex transaction.

Thursday, July 9, 2020
TAX OMBUD REPORT RAISES QUESTIONS ON EFFECTIVE USE OF SARS RESOURCES

On 23 June 2020, Judge Bernard Ngoepe released the Tax Ombud’s long-awaited second report on the investigation on systemic issues at SARS. The report, which is probably the Ombud’s best to date, will be immensely insightful to the SARS Commissioner, but equally concerning. Informed by an impressive massive amount of data, the report reveals just how much resources SARS pours into the administration of tax disputes, without getting much bang for its buck.

Tuesday, July 7, 2020
Debt restructuring: International tax considerations

The increasingly unpredictable economic landscape has created uncertainty and distress for businesses across a broad range of sectors and markets.

Friday, July 3, 2020

Tax News In The Press

Draft Response Document on the Covid 19 Tax - 14 September 2020
Monday, September 14, 2020
Opinion | Ramaphosa's Pointless Lockdown Caused Economy's 51 Percent Meltdown

[DA] South Africa's 51% economic collapse - the third worst in the world for the second quarter of 2020 - is due to President Ramaphosa's lockdown, not to the virus as he would have you believe. His lockdown was one of the world's longest, hardest, most irrational, most costly, and most unsuccessful. It cost not only 3 million jobs, thousands of businesses, and billions in foregone tax revenue, but lives too. It certainly did not on balance save lives as he would also have you believe.

Friday, September 11, 2020
DA
MEC David Maynier On Tourism Month

[Govt of SA] Yesterday (09 September 2020), Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, David Maynier, visited tourism attractions on the West Coast to highlight the great experiences that we have to offer in the Western Cape.

Thursday, September 10, 2020
Govt of SA
Parliament Reports On Submissions Made By Members of Public On Disaster Management Tax Relief Bill and Disaster Management Tax Administration Bill, 9 Sept

[Govt of SA] Finance Committee set to deliberate on Disaster Management Tax Relief Bill and Disaster Management Tax Administration Bill

Wednesday, September 9, 2020
Govt of SA
SA Must Tackle Corruption to Progress, Says DG

[SAnews.gov.za] Unabated corruption will continue to hinder South Africa's development and stifle the country from reaching its full potential, National Treasury Director-General Dondo Mogajane has said.

Wednesday, September 9, 2020
SAnews.gov.za
A social contract in need of repair

On the opening day of Tax Indaba 2020 on Monday, Keith Engel, CEO of the SA Institute of Tax Professionals, raised many important points in the continuing tax policy debate between government, the private sector, taxpayers and institutions.

Wednesday, September 9, 2020