The Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA) has been operating since 2001 but lately has been revised to bring it into line with global practices and to sharpen its focus of fighting money laundering and terrorism financing. So common has FICA become that people and banks now talk about “being FICA’d”. The outcomes of FICA before […]
FICA: Will the Revised Act Still be a Four Letter Word? Read More »
If you plan to form a trust, you need to know about a new directive from the Chief Master of the High Court to all Master’s Offices in the country. The directive applies to all new trusts (those “registered for the first time”) by the Master. Following a series of court cases in which the
Trusts: New Directive on Independent Trustees Read More »
“Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys” (P.J. O’Rourke) Once again tax season has opened for individuals, and whilst we can chuckle at jokes about the pain of paying taxes, they remain of course an integral part of life. By now you should have already gathered
Tax Season Opened On 1 July: Here’s What You Need to Know, and Do Read More »
There has been uncertainty for some time as to whether employees’ tax (PAYE) should be deducted from payments made to Non-Executive Directors (NED’s) for the services they perform. There has also been debate around whether NED’s should charge VAT for their services. The Minister of Finance undertook to clarify this in the February 2016 Budget
Non-Executive Directors: Income Tax and VAT Implications Read More »
Often in the dispute process, vital documents cannot be accessed. For example, a request to SARS to explain an assessment (Request for Reasons) is lodged but it gets either lost or stuck in the SARS system. By the time it is located and SARS has responded to the taxpayer, the SARS system will have timed
SARS Streamlines its Alternative Dispute Resolution System via eFiling Read More »
“Cheops’ Law: Nothing ever gets built on schedule or within budget” (Robert A. Heinlein) Hopefully you won’t have to wait 20 years for your new dream home to be built – that’s how long Cheops (ancient Egyptian pharaoh) had to hang around twiddling his thumbs whilst his Great Pyramid of Giza was going up –
Built a House: What is an Occupancy Certificate? Why Do You Need It? Read More »
Events have moved swiftly – on 31 March the Minister of Finance and the Deputy Minister were axed. Ratings agencies Fitch and S&P downgraded South African debt to junk status the next week. Why the muted response? In December last year when Mr. Nene was replaced as Finance Minister, it appeared we had fallen off
Junk Status Is Now a Reality – How Will It Affect Us? Read More »
A global organisation which focuses on internal (i.e. management, owners and staff) fraud, recently released some sobering findings. Understanding them is your first step in protecting your business from serious loss. In Sub-Saharan Africa Over 60% of frauds were committed by people with a degree (in view of the large number of fake degrees consider
Frightening Fraud Statistics – Protect Your Business Now! Read More »
The Companies Act gives directors substantial leeway to run a company and gives them considerable powers to do this. So how does it protect minority shareholders who disagree with how the directors operate the business? What remedies are available to you? A shareholder may seek court relief when there is “an unconscionable abuse” of the
Aggrieved Minority Shareholders: You Have Plenty of Options Read More »
Two months ago we wrote about how the Tax Ombud was now more independent of SARS and it hasn’t taken the Ombud long to flex these powers. Over half of complaints received by the Ombud relate to the long time taken to get refunds to taxpayers. This relates to both Income Tax and VAT. The
Are You Battling to Get a Tax Refund? Tax Ombud To Investigate SARS Systems Read More »
