Dividend-stripping case sharpens the boundaries of legitimate tax planning
The Tax Court has affirmed the choice principle but raised fresh questions about where legitimate tax-efficient structuring ends and impermissible avoidance begins.
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Refundable ‘premium’ sinks taxpayer’s insurance deduction
The High Court finds that most of the payment was a recoverable, interest-bearing deposit rather than expenditure incurred for genuine insurance cover.
Can a tax deduction be claimed a decade late?
A fuel exporter lost a R38.8-million deduction claim, but the Tax Court ruling may open a fresh battle over whether the correct tax years can still be re-opened.
Taxpayers may use non-lawyer representatives, SCA rules
The judgment confirms that the Tax Administration Act and Tax Court Rules do not restrict appearances to admitted legal practitioners.
Tax Court clarifies VAT treatment of cashback and fee rebates
The Court finds that cashback credits reduced the original fee, rather than constituting payment for a separate supply by customers.
GAAR assessments cannot be rewritten in litigation, SCA rules
SARS cannot fundamentally alter the factual basis or remedy of an assessment issued under the general anti-avoidance rule provisions through a Rule 31 statement.
Court halts SARS’s ‘pay now, argue later’ rule in R531m tax battle
The judgment clarifies that when a taxpayer offers over-collateralised security and SARS cannot explain real risk, suspension should follow.
Can taxpayers lose by challenging SARS? The hidden risks in transfer pricing disputes
Taxpayers challenging assessments in transfer pricing disputes face hidden risks, including the rare possibility that the Tax Court could consider increasing an assessment.
Courts willing to consider evidence beyond a contract’s written terms
Modern contract interpretation permits surrounding circumstances to explain contractual meaning – undermining SARS’s argument that extrinsic evidence is inadmissible.
ConCourt judgment widens High Court’s jurisdiction in tax cases
The Court replaces the restrictive ‘exceptional circumstances’ test with a flexible ‘good cause’ standard, creating new forum-choice opportunities.
Tax disputes: compliance and the interests of justice trump rigid timelines
The Supreme Court of Appeal found in favour of SARS despite it ignoring a 45-day timeline for more than a year.
SCA confirms validity of a tax opinion when it is correct in fact and law
Supreme Court rejects SARS’s argument that the expert’s opinion was tainted by self-interest because of the fee he would earn.
Tax Court faults SARS in R158m VAT case over legal insurance fund
SARS’s stance on input VAT was overturned after the court found the fund to be the principal in an insurance agreement – not merely an agent.
‘Instructive remarks’ from the Constitutional Court on understatement penalties
Expert legal interpretations, even if contrary to SARS’s stance, may not automatically result in understatement penalties.
Constitutional Court clarifies CGT in multi-tier trust arrangements
The court’s interpretation and application of the conduit principle has implications for structures involving layers of multiple discretionary trusts.
Precedent-setting case highlights legal hurdles in transfer pricing disputes
The tax dispute between ABD and SARS highlights the complexity of IP royalty pricing and the importance of expert testimony in transfer pricing audits.
Important lessons from the Constitutional Court in the Coronation case
The departure point in determining whether a company qualifies for the foreign business establishment tax exemption is what it actually does.
