Webber Wentzel

Proposed changes to the Income Tax Act, contained in the 2019 draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill, were released for comment by the National Treasury on July 21 2019.

The appointment of Edward Kieswetter as the new Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service (SARS) was announced at the end of March 2019.

A number of proposed tax changes were highlighted in documents released as part of South Africa's annual budget on February 20 2019. The draft legislation dealing with these will only be released for comment later in the year, but some of the key takeaways have been highlighted below.

South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) handed down an important judgment on the doctrine of simulation, or substance over form, on November 9 2018, putting to rest some significant confusion created by an earlier judgment of the Gauteng Tax Court.

Changes made last year to South Africa's dividend stripping rules have effectively eliminated the ability of group companies to make use of the rollover relief provisions that historically have allowed qualifying liquidations or deregistration of group companies (both local and foreign) to be done on a tax-neutral basis.

Proposed changes to the Income Tax Act, contained in the 2018 draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill (DTLAB), were released for comment on July 16 2018. This update focuses on certain international tax-related proposals.

The use of real estate investment trusts (REITs) is becoming increasingly popular in South Africa. However, care needs to be taken where a South African REIT holds various foreign property owning subsidiaries either directly or through a non-South African intermediary holding company (IHC).

The Minister of Finance presented the 2018 budget speech on February 21. The supporting documentation noted some potential amendments to the South African Income Tax Act which are of interest in a cross-border context.