Small Business Tax Amnesty & Amendment of Taxation Laws Bills
Select Committee on Finance21 June 2006
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Major Themes
• Rate and Threshold Relief• Small Business Tax Amnesty• Municipalities• Customs & Excise• Miscellaneous Amendments &
Technical Corrections
Continued economic growth and effective SARS administration allow for yet another year of
broad-based tax relief . . .
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Individual Income Tax Rates
• Marginal Brackets [Clause 18 and Schedule 1):– 18% rate tops out at R100 000 (versus the former R80 000)– 25% rate tops out at R160 000 (versus the former R130 000)– 30% rate tops out at R220 000 (versus the former R180 000)– 35% rate tops out at R300 000 (versus the former R230 000)– 38% rate tops out at R400 000 (versus the former R300 000)– 40% rate kicks-in at R400 000 (versus the former R300 000)
• Thresholds (Rebates):– The general tax threshold (for ages below 65) kicks-in at
R40 000 (versus the former R35 000) [Clause 20]– The threshold for ages 65 and above kicks-in at R65 000
(versus the former R60 000)
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Individual Thresholds
• Interest (Dividend) Exemption [Clause 23]:– Ages Below 65: Domestic interest (dividends) is
exempt up to R16 500 (versus the former R15 000)– Ages 65 and Above: Domestic interest (dividends) is
exempt up to R24 500 (versus the former R22 000)– Foreign interest and dividends are exempt up to
R2 500 (versus the former R2 000)• Capital Gains:
– Annual capital gain/loss exemption increases to R12 500 (versus the former R10 000) [Clause 32]
– Exclusion on death increases to R60 000 (versus the former R50 000) [Clause 32]
– Primary residence (i.e. home) sale exemption increases to R1,5 million (versus the former R1 million) [Clause 33]
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Retirement and Inter-Generational Transfers
• Retirement:– Retirement fund taxation drops to 9% (versus the
former 18%) [Clause 54] – Corresponding regulatory reform will occur to
ensure tax savings translate into individual savings• Estate Duty/Donations Tax:
– The Estate Duty threshold increases to R2,5 million (versus the former R1,5 million) [Clause 17]
– The Donations Tax threshold increases to R50 000 (versus the former R30 000) [Clause 27]
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Real Estate Purchasesand Rentals
• Transfer Duty Relief (Purchases) [Clause 14]:– The zero rate tops out at R500 000 (versus the
former R190 000)– The 5% duty kicks-in at R500 001 (versus the former
R190 001)– The 8% duty kick-in at above R1 million (versus the
former R330 001)– Company/trusts rates drops to 8% (versus the
former 10%)• Stamp Duty Relief (Rentals) [Clause 38]:
– Exemption kicks-in at R500 per agreement (versus the former R200); stated differently, rental agreements with aggregate rent up to R100 000 are now exempt
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Prior-Year Individual Holdovers:Base-Broadening
• Car Allowance:– Deemed private distance travelled will be 18 000 km (versus
the former 16 000 km) in terms of the overall 32 000 km deemed amount) [Clause 21]
– Monthly PAYE withholding for the motor vehicle allowance will be 60% (versus the former 50%) in order to prevent under-withholding due the change in deemed private distance[Clause 28]
• Medical [Clause 31]:– New monetary cap system (versus the former 2/3rds formula)
takes effect– Employer-provided medical assistance on-site and off-site is
now excluded from income in terms of uninsured employees– Employer-assistance will now also be available for medically-
insured employees as long as the medical scheme reimburses the employer (i.e. no double-dipping)
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Tax Incentive for LearnershipWages [Clause 25]
• Initial sunset date: Extended from 2006 to 2011 (in line with the 2010 extension for the National Skills Development Strategy)
• An additional allowance (i.e. deduction) for salary will be available within increased maximum caps:– Starting maximum cap for existing employees will be R20 000
(versus the former R17 500)– Starting maximum cap for new employees will be R30 000 (versus
the former R25 000)– Completion maximum cap for all employees will be R30 000 (versus
the former R25 000)• Disabled person category added:
– 150% additional starting allowance for existing employees with a R40 000 maximum cap
– 175% additional starting allowance for new employees with a R50 000 maximum cap
– 175% additional completion allowance for all employees with a R50 000 maximum cap
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Small Business Relief
• Small Business Corporations:– Definitional limit increases to R14 million (versus the former R6 million)
[Clause 24]– The 10% rate upper limit tops out at R300 000 (versus the former
R250 000) [Schedule 1]– Exemption threshold tops out at R40 000 (versus the former R35 000
– similar to individuals) [Schedule 1]• One-Time CGT Exemption for Small Business Sales:
– Exemption increases to R750 000 (versus the former R500 000) [Clause 34]
• 100% Depreciation:– Small items of all businesses eligible for 100% depreciation operates
under an increased limit of R5 000 (versus the former R2 000)• VAT Thresholds [Clause 50]:
– Definitional limit for 4-monthly filers increases to R1,2 million (versus the former R1 million)
– Definitional limit for 6-monthly small farmers increases to R1,2 million (versus the former R1 million)
Small Business Amnesty . . .
Special Relief to Assist Small Business (Informal and Formal)
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Rationale
• Broaden the tax base• Normalisation of tax affairs• Improve tax compliance culture• Facilitate the taxi recapitalisation
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Who May Apply[Clause 2]
• Types of parties:– Individuals (i.e. natural persons)– Trusts and estates– Unlisted companies (completely owned by
individuals and/or estates)• Activity level:
– The party must carry on business– R10 million gross business turnover limit for the
2006 assessment year– Pro rate R10 million for years that are shorter or
longer than 12 months
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Core Requirements
• Time Period [Clause 3]:– Starting 1 August 2006– Ending 31 May 2007(Two phase amnesty process dropped)
• 2006 Assessment Year Information• 5% Maximum Levy• No SARS Notice
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2006 Information Requirement(Clause 4)
• One: Full disclosure of all business taxable income for the 2006 assessment year:– Only for a single year (no 2005 Income Tax
assessment year requirements)– No PAYE, Unemployment Insurance, Skills
Development Levy, VAT or Royalty Withholding information
• Two: Income Tax return for the 2006 assessment year
• Three: An asset/liability balance sheet at cost at the close of the 2006 assessment year
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Reasonable Estimates[Clauses 4 & 12]
• The amnesty permits “reasonable estimates” in lieu of actual amounts if actual disclosure is impractical (due to concerns about informal businesses)
• Amnesty relief will be withdrawn if these reasonable estimates if not materially correct
• Moving the year forward to 2006 should reduce the need for reasonable estimates as well as the reasonable estimate procedure
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Levy Requirement[Clause 6]
• Maximum 5%:– Maximum 5% of the total taxable business income
for the 2006 assessment year– For this purpose, unused pre-2006 losses cannot be
set off against 2006 taxable income • Schedule of Rates:
– 0% rate for 0 – R35 000– 2% rate for R35 001 to R100 000– 3% rate for R100 001 to R250 000– 4% rate for R250 001 to R500 000– 5% rate for R500 001 or more
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No SARS Pre-Amnesty Contact[Clause 5]
• The basic amnesty will generally be denied if SARS issues a notice to the applicant (or the applicant’s representative) before the amnesty submission of an:– Audit,– Investigation; or– Other enforcement actionRelating to a period otherwise covered by the amnesty
• The term “enforcement action” will be clarified by the Commissioner via Gazette
• Note: SARS notice will be ignored if withdrawn or finalised before submitting the amnesty application
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Amnesty Relief[Clauses 8 & 9]
• One: The amnesty covers improperly undeclared or unpaid business income (including incidental investment income):– Income Tax and STC amounts arising before the
2006 assessment year; and– VAT, PAYE, UIC, SDL and Royalty Withholding
before 1 March 2006• Two: The amnesty similarly covers:
– Additional tax, penalties and interest– Criminal prosecution for failure to disclose
[Clause 5 of 2nd Bill]
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No Carry Forward Benefits[Clause 11]
• Taxpayers may not carryover tax benefits from a pre-2006 year
• Hence,– Loss carryovers,– STC credits, and– VAT input credits Cannot be utilised if stemming from a pre-
2006 year receiving amnesty relief
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Amnesty Process[Clause 5; Clause 6 of 2nd Bill]
• Amnesty approval is non-discretionary• Amnesty applications will be reviewed by
a separate SARS unit with regional presence
• SARS notice of amnesty approval or denial is required
• All SARS decisions are subject to objection and appeal
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Not For Organised Crime[Clause 10, FICA Regulations]
• The Amnesty does not apply to fraudulent VAT schemes:– VAT not paid due to the submission of fictitious
purchase invoices– VAT not paid due to fictitious zero-rated exports for
sales actually occurring locally• The Financial Intelligence Centre Act will not
prevent advisors from providing tax advice, but they must disclose applicants involved in other offences (e.g. drug dealing / money laundering)
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Amnesty Subsequently Void[Clause 12]
• Despite initial SARS approval, amnesty approval will later become void if:– The applicant subsequently fails to pay the
full amnesty levy within 12 months;– The taxpayer failed to make full disclosure of
required information for 2006; or– Estimates (if any) are materially incorrect
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Outstanding Debt Amnesty[Clause 13]
• Taxpayers will receive an outstanding debt amnesty if they have not yet paid, but have:– Submitted a return or information indicating
payment due; or– SARS indicates payment is due via SARS
assessment• Coverage: Penalty, additional tax and interest• Process: Ministerial regulation for public
comment and Parliamentary scrutiny
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Parliamentary Report[Clause 7 – 2nd Bill]
• The success of the amnesty must be reported to Parliament
• These details include:– Number of applications received– Number of applications approved and denied– Number of new taxpayer registrations (per
tax type)– All amnesty levies payable– Retention of new taxpayers on the register
for 2008 and 2009
Municipalities . . .
RSC Levy Repeal &VAT Simplification
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Regional Services Levy Repeal [Clause 59]
• The RSC Levies (both the turnover and employee elements) will be repealed with effect from 1 July 2006
• This repeal provides:– R7 billion of tax relief; and– Simplifies taxpayer compliance (especially for
small business)• Repeal technically requires:
– Repeal of section 93(6) of the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act; and
– Replacement legislation: Municipal Fiscal Powers and Functions Bill (the latter of which will be presented to Parliament shortly)
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Municipalities and VAT: Objectives
1. Revenue Shifting: Zero-rating of property rates is designed to shift revenue from the National Government to Municipalities due to RSC Levies repeal (the rest is financed via national grants).
2. Administrative Ease: The proposal also simplifies VAT administration by eliminating allocation issues for input credits
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Note: Municipal As, Bs & Cs
• South Africa has 283 municipalities consisting of:
– Category A municipalities have exclusive municipal executive and legislative authority in their areas (x6)
– Category B municipalities share municipal executive and legislative authority in an area with a category C municipality (x231)
– Category C municipalities have municipal executive and legislative authority in an area that includes more than one municipality (x46), which may include “District Management Areas” (certain Cs, such as nature reserves)
A
BC
C
B B BB B
B
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Zero Rating of Property Rates[Clauses 40 to 52]
• As of July, property rates will go from “out of scope” status to zero rating status
• As a result, VAT input tax relating to property rates will be unlocked
• The proportion of municipal exempt/out of scope revenues will decrease, thereby reducing input allocation issues
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Property Rates as Cross-Subsidies
• Zero rating for property rates will apply even if those rates act as a hidden subsidy for standard rated services (e.g. sewage, refuse)
• Potential misuse is limited because of municipal rate guidelines and external pressures
• However [Clauses 40 & 42] —– “flat fee” rate funding covering all services will be
viewed as a standard rated service (historic relic in certain townships) (old section 8(6)(a) continued)
– Rates levied for electricity, gas, water, drainage, sewage and garbage removal to be standard rated
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Modernising the “Local Authority” Definition [Clause 40]
• The current VAT local authority definition predates recent changes to the Municipality acts
• Local authority currently means:– (a) any divisional council, rural council, municipal council, – (b) any other body, council, board, committee or institution established or
deemed to be established by or under any law which has functions similar to those of the councils, boards and committees in paragraph (a) and which may levy rates on the value of immovable property within its jurisdiction or receive payments for services rendered or to be rendered; and
– ( c ) any water board or regional water services corporation or any other institution which has powers similar to those of any such boards or corporations
• Proposals:– Point #1: Parts (a) and (b) part of the definition will be modernised into the
Category A, B and C municipal definitions– Point #2: The water boards will fall under the “designated entity” (PFMA)
definition; pre-effective date status of water boards will also be clarified due to previous overlap
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Removing the Special “Enterprise” Definition [Clause 40]
• VAT only applies to an enterprise. A special “enterprise” definition exists for local authority activities (other local authority activities are simply out of scope)
• The following supplies by local authorities will always be part of an enterprise:– Electricity, gas or water;– Drainage, removal or disposal of sewage or garbage;– Incidental goods or services
• However, when it comes to any other types of supplies, the following activities trigger the enterprise definition only if all of the following conditions are met
– The supplies must be of the same kind or similar to taxable supplies made by any private vendor (i.e. the competition clause);
– The income derived from the activity (including amounts received as a grant) should be sufficient to cover all the costs of conducting that activity (i.e. cost coverage clause); and
– The business activity must fall within the Ministerial list - see Government Notice No. 2570
• Proposal:– Delete the special local authority definition;– All local authorities will fall under the general enterprise definition
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Simplified Municipal Revenue Streams
• By mainstreaming the enterprise definition, municipal supplies will generally be standard rated (not just listed items)
• Areas to be clarified by way of SARS interpretation:– Licenses and fees will be standard
rated– Penalties and fines will be exempt
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Housing(Basic Principle Retained)
• Municipal rental housing will remain exempt
• The sale of housing by municipalities will remain subject to VAT
• Housing grants:– National grants for subsidised rentals remain
exempt– National grants for subsidised sales remain
zero rated (special rule for housing)
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Transport (Basic Principle Retained)
• Public transport will remain outside the VAT net
• This result matches the private sector (e.g taxis and other passenger transport)
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Grants TO Municipalities
• VAT treatment of grants will remain dependent on the ultimate use of the funds (sections 8(5A) and 11(2)(t)):– Grants are zero rated if the municipality uses the
funds to offer standard rated or zero rated supplies– Grants are out of scope if the municipality uses the
funds to offer exempt/out of scope supplies • However, grants are not to be confused with
services (the latter of which is subject to VAT)
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Grants FROM MunicipalitiesTO Municipal Entities
• Grants from municipalities to municipal entities will:– Generally be standard rated; unless– The Minister views the entity as being regulatory
• Standard rated treatment will not have any adverse impact because the municipalities can claim VAT input credits
• Note: Issues involving the REDS are deferred until the October 2006 Tax Bill
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Effective Date Issues
• Municipalities may have difficulty changing their systems by 1 July 2006; therefore, a 6-Month Penalty/Interest waiver will be added as a transitional measure [By regulation]
• Input credits for pre-1 July 2006 municipal purchases will be blocked even if the purchase subsequently relates to a VATable output due to the proposed change [Clauses 47 & 49]
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Effective Date Changes (Cont.)• Under old law, confusion existed as to whether a grant
to a municipality was subject to VAT• This confusion lead to legislative clarification in 2005• While the 2005 change solved the problem on a going
forward basis, the same confusion still exists for pre-2005 years
• Hence, a retroactive amendment cures the problems arising for the pre-2005 years by [Clause 51]:– Reducing assessments issued to correct incorrect
application of the Act to the extent of outstanding tax on 31 March 2005; and
– Foreclosing municipalities from claiming refunds on overpaid amounts relating to the same issue
Customs & Excise . . .
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Yearly “Sin Tax” Adjustments[Schedule 2]
• Increase charges on alcohol:– Sparkling wine: +20%– Unfortified wine: +12,5%– Fortified wine: +9,4%– Malt beer: +9%– Alcoholic fruit beverages: +9%– Spirits: +9,5%– Traditional beer: 0% change
• Increased charges on tobacco:– Cigarettes: +10,2%– Cigarette tobacco: +4,7%– Pipe tobacco: +8,3%– Cigars: +4,8%
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Deletion of De Minimis Items
• Certain de minimis items need to be deleted from ad valorem excise duty list because the cost of administration largely outweighs the revenue raised
• These de minimis items presently include:– Aqueous distillates and aqueous solutions of
essential oils– Automatic goods vending machines– Fax machines (and certain transmission parts)– Road tractors
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Biodiesel[Clauses 37(2) & 53]
• General fuel levy concession of 30% announced in the 2002 Budget Review
• Enabling legislation enacted that same year
• Industry and standard setters subsequently engaged
• The 2006 Budget review announced an increase to 40% (which was implemented as of 1 April 2006)
Miscellaneous Amendments & Technical Corrections
“Annexure C”
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Transfer Duty & Divorce
• Transfer Duty currently does not apply to:– Transfers between spouses upon death
regardless of whether the marriage is “in or out of” community of property; or
– Transfers between spouses upon divorce only if the marriage was “in” community of property
• Proposal [Clause 16]:– Extend the Transfer Duty to all divorce
transfers regardless of community of property
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Stamp Duty Exemption for Interests in Collective Investment Schemes
• Collective Investment Schemes interests are currently exempt from Stamp Duty if in the form of an unlisted Unit Trust
• In order to provide equal exemption for Collective Investment Schemes [Clauses 39 & 58]:– All interests in these schemes will be exempt from Stamp
Duty/UST regardless of whether:• The scheme is in the form of a trust or company; and• The scheme invests in shares, bonds or land
– Interests in all listed schemes will be exempt from UST regardless of trust of company form (provides relief for listed Index Funds)
• Exemption limits the Stamp Duty/UST charges to one level:– No charge for participatory interests in a scheme; but– The Scheme is subject to a charge for its shareholdings
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Treasury Access to PFMAand MFMA Data
• Treasury generally has only limited access to SARS taxpayer data (i.e. retrievable only at an aggregate level)
• Given its role in appropriating funds, Treasury will obtain full access to SARS taxpayer data for [Clauses 9 & 13 of the 2nd Bill]:– PFMA entities, and– MFMA entities
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UST and the Sale of PartialShare Rights [Clauses 56 &57]
• In 2005, Government took steps to ensure that taxpayers could not avoid UST by selling listed shares off-market
• These rules treated all off-market sales as occurring at a market value at least equal to the full listed share value
• This deeming rule inadvertently applied to the sale of partial rights (dividend and voting cessions), triggering a tax on value equal to the full share value
• Proposal: All sales of partial rights by participants will be subject to UST based only on the value of the partial right transferred
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Minor Items: Income Tax• Liquidating dividend terminology alignment [Clause 19]• Deemed disposal for listed shares inadvertently limited
to company holders [Clause 22]• Deletion of exemption for defunct RIDP and SRIDP
programmes [Clause 23]• 2005 currency printing error [Clause 26]• Fringe benefit formula for employer-subsidised
employee accommodation will utilise a R40 000 deduction (versus the former R20 000) [Clause 29]
• Deletion of R500 de minimis exemption for cross-border travel fringe benefits [Clause 30]
• 2005 anti-avoidance dividend-outflow errors [Clause 35]
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Minor Items: Other Taxes
• VAT: Clarifying that premiums for option are an exempt financial service [Clause 41]
• VAT: References to leaded fuel deleted as obsolete [Clause 53]
• Customs: Empowering SARS to detain ships, vehicles and containers [Clauses 10 & 11 of 2nd Bill]
• UST: Clarifying that UST applies to redemptions [Clause 55]
• Stamp Duty: Phasing-out of adhesive stamps and franking machines for Stamp Duty [Clause 12 of the 2nd Bill]
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Transitional PetroleumIncentives [Schedule 3]
• OP 26 oil and gas leases and subleases operating along the SA coast have been eligible for tax incentives since 1977
• Conversion to “new order” rights and wholly new applications technically fall outside these incentives
• The Bill carries over these incentives until the earlier of 1 May 2009 or revised legislation (due in October)
