Section 42: Asset-for-share transactions
It is often the case that South African tax resident shareholders wish to reorganise their South African group of companies, for a multitude of commercial reasons, without the ultimate shareholders changing. One of these could potentially be to create a single holding company structure. Various group relief provisions are contained in the Income Tax Act […]
Analysing tax exemption for dividends
Dividends are a valuable part of many shareholders’ income, but even though they are exempt from regular income tax, it does not mean that they are completely exempt from tax. A dividend can be defined as any local or foreign dividend paid by a resident company of South Africa or a foreign country, provided that the […]
Arbitrary practices by SARS when issuing assessments
The Tax Administration Act provides for the audit and verification of taxpayers’ tax returns for all taxes administered by the Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service (SARS). In many instances, such requests for information are general, boiler-plate letters received by taxpayers, not indicating specifically what additional information SARS requires in the circumstances and which supporting […]