In Delport v Le Roux and Others[1], the court’s judgment, delivered on 24 November 2022, is a r...
Recent binding private rulings
Wednesday, 28 May 2014
Since March 2014 SARS has issued several binding private rulings. A few of the more interesting ones are discussed below. It is necessary to approach private rulings with care, because invariably the published rulings contain only redacted versions of the facts and circumstances. The discussion below should be read with that caveat in mind.
- Published in Income Tax
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MTN loses a capital/revenue argument
Wednesday, 26 March 2014
My recent article on CSARS v Mobile Telephone Network Holdings (Pty) Ltd Case No (966/12) [2014] ZASCA 4 (7 March 2014) discussed the Supreme Court of Appeal’s decision on the deductibility of audit fees. This article addresses the second aspect of the case, where the taxpayer sought to deduct as a revenue expense the costs
- Published in Income Tax, Uncategorized
Apportionment of audit fees
Tuesday, 18 March 2014
A long battle about apportioning audit fees for tax purposes culminated on 7 March 2014 in defeat for the taxpayer in CSARS v Mobile Telephone Networks Holdings (Pty) Ltd (966/12) [2014] ZASCA 4. The Supreme Court of Appeal overturned the decision of the High Court, which had overturned that of the tax court. The effect
- Published in General, Income Tax
What does “pending” mean in the tax context?
Friday, 28 February 2014
What does “pending” mean in the tax context? In February 2014 the Cape High Court found that, in the legal context at least, “pending” means “proceedings having begun but not yet concluded”, as opposed to the applicants’ claim that it means “about to happen”. The court also found, in response to the applicants’ alternative challenge,
- Published in General, Income Tax
Hybrid debt instruments and subordinated debt
Wednesday, 19 February 2014
Significant amendments to section 8F of the Income Tax Act 1962, due to apply from 1 April 2014, will adversely affect many subordination agreements. This arises from an addition to the definition of “hybrid equity instrument” in section 8F.
- Published in Income Tax
Lessons from some recent trust cases
Monday, 10 February 2014
Lessons from some recent trust cases In the past year or so several decisions by the High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal have been of interest in the trust field. It’s questionable whether any of them have made new law, but they are of interest. I start with Potgieter and Another v Potgieter
- Published in Trusts
The birth of the first Income Tax Act
Monday, 10 February 2014
Some things never change. Several of the newer additions to the current Income Tax Act were borrowed and adapted from Australian, Canadian and, especially in the case of VAT, New Zealand tax statutes. Well, our very first Income Tax Act, promulgated in 1914, was based entirely on the New South Wales Act.
- Published in Income Tax
Some transfer pricing relief for South African companies
Sunday, 10 November 2013
The transfer pricing section 31 of the Income Tax Act, 1962 has recently undergone a substantial makeover. An unintended consequence of the amendments has been that South African companies funding expansion offshore through offshore subsidiaries are vulnerable to transfer pricing consequences. The Taxation Laws Amendment Bill 2013 amends section 31 to provide relief.
- Published in Income Tax