Africa | TaxConnections

27 Jan 2016

Returning South Africans Importing Goods

It is not unusual for South Africans to live and work overseas for some years, and then at some point, usually after receiving a second nationality, to return to South Africa. Many of these persons returning to South Africa wish to bring their household goods back with them. The SA Customs and Excise Act makes provision for a concession that allows such persons to import goods without having to pay import duties and VAT.

Unfortunately, many persons encounter hiccups with the process, and Breytenbachs Advisory are aware of persons who have been kept in custody at Customs for days due to non-compliance to the prescribed process. We have subsequently provided some answers to South Africans’ frequently asked question on the import of household goods to South Africa.

Who qualifies for the concession on the import of household goods to South Africa? Read More

Written by Hugo Van Zyl | Posted in Africa • Expatriate • Financial Emigration • International • VAT

12 Nov 2015

Meet Dr. Daniel Erasmus – Managing Partner, Transfer Pricing Expert, Tax Risk Management

TaxConnections would like to introduce Dr. Daniel Erasmus, Managing Partner and Transfer Pricing Expert at Tax Risk Management.

An Enrolled Agent and a member of the US Tax Court Bar in all 50 states, his experience as international attorney has led him and his team to represent clients all over the world in tax controversies, especially transfer pricing in Africa.

These clients include:

Various US clients;
A major German car manufacturing company;
The 2nd largest beer brewer in the world; Read More

Written by Advertorial | Posted in Africa • Tax Risk Management • TaxConnections • Transfer Pricing

21 Sep 2015

SARS Is Aggressive – Recent Complaints In The South African Parliament

There are extensive rights that are available to taxpayers at the commencement of an audit in South Africa.

They are contained in the Tax Administration Act (TAA), the Constitution and the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act. These issues are dealt with in the series of presentations that revolve around tax controversies in Africa and South Africa by Dr Daniel N. Erasmus, a tax controversy specialist in Africa, who resides and consults from the USA. What follows is a recent article published in South Africa about the aggressive moves by SARS:

ARTICLE – THE South African Revenue Service (SARS) is adopting more aggressive tactics to extract information from taxpayers as it tries to achieve a revenue target during a Read More

Written by Daniel Erasmus | Posted in Africa

14 Jul 2015

South African Tax Man’s Message To HSBC Account Holders

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has announced an amnesty of sort – a threat and upfront warnings: we do know about you, best you come forward before we make the tax audit into your affairs known.

On July 9th, 2015, SARS issued a press release, which can be read in more detail on:

http://www.sars.gov.za/Media/MediaReleases/Pages/9-July-2015 – – – South-Africans-with-accounts-and-investments-in-foreign-tax-jurisdictions.aspx

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), based information obtained by French newspaper Le Monde, ranked South Africa number 31 among the countries with the largest amount of dollars ($2.3blion) in the so-called leaked Swiss Read More

Written by Hugo Van Zyl | Posted in Africa • Expatriate • FATCA • FBAR • Income Tax • International • IRS • OECD • OVDP • Swiss Bank Accounts • Tax Controversy • Tax Fraud/Evasion/Crimes • Tax Policy • Tax Provision/Tax Reporting • Tax Risk Management • Transfer Pricing • United States

26 Feb 2015

Nene Nene – After Falling Off A Chair He Now Delivered The Goodies

So, in 2008, whilst on the rise, Minister Nene went crashing to the floor. (See Video Below.) Now, he is on top of it, in fact he was handed a poisonous chalice and survived. In fact, he survived so well he had some goodies to share with Expat South Africans.

Yes, one has to compliment the new Minister of Finance on his performance. Minister Nene, at times, had to force his fellow politicians to enjoy the tax lecture and austerity and budget cuts. Increasing the tax on sinners, smokers, gamblers and other naughty taxpayer did not help to make him too popular.

But the tablets were handed out, the jabs will follow later. The patient is indeed not yet able to leave the hospital. Increasing VAT to 15% would have ensured a cure but once Read More

Written by Hugo Van Zyl | Posted in Africa

23 Feb 2015

Companies Divert Huge Amounts of Cash Out of Africa

Large corporations conduct vast scams to avoid paying taxes levied by African governments, according to a joint UN–African Union report cited by the Wall Street Journal. Because the governments lack the expertise and enforcement clout to halt such practices, companies frequently underreport the goods they import or sell in order to avoid taxes, and the resulting profits are typically diverted overseas, with the result that as much as $60 billion is illegally moved out of Africa annually, the report says.

These reports will only stimulate Transfer Pricing reviews by African Tax Authorities.

For additional information about Africa specific Transfer Pricing, connect with me on TaxConnections. Read More

Written by Daniel Erasmus | Posted in Africa • Transfer Pricing

20 Feb 2015

FLASH ALERT! WOTC: IRS Notice 2015-13: Providing Transition Relief For Employers Submitting Late WOTC Applications

We Have Been Waiting For This!

The IRS has released IRS Notice 2015-13, which provides transition relief given the late retroactive renewal of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit program in December 2014. Notice 2015-13 waves the 28-day deadline for submitting IRS Form 8850 (the WOTC Pre-screen Notice) for qualifying employees hired in 2014. The extended deadline for submitting the applications for affected employees is now April 30, 2015.

From the Notice:

Written by Eric Larson | Posted in Affordable Healthcare Act • Africa • Audit • Corporate • Federal • International • IRS • North America • Partnership • State And Local Tax (SALT) • State Tax • Tax Controversy • Tax Deductions • Tax Policy

02 Oct 2014

Taxpayers Rights When Audited By Tax Authorities In South Africa (Chapter 7.7) Final Post

Posted in sections, this is my Doctoral Thesis on taxpayers rights when audited by the tax authorities in South Africa – equally applicable to many English-based law systems in Africa and abroad (eg. India). This will be of particular use to any tax practitioners doing work in Africa and in other English-based legal systems around the world.

Analysis of Challenging The Commissioner’s Discretionary Powers In Auditing Taxpayers under The Constitution of The Republic of South Africa

CHAPTER 7 – CONCLUSION

7.7 THE PROPOSED TAX ADMINISTRATION ACT – Final Post Read More

Written by Daniel Erasmus | Posted in Africa • Audit