An investigation into the introduction of a new wealth tax in South Africa
- Authors: Arendse, Jacqueline A
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Wealth tax -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Taxation -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Income tax -- South Africa , Fiscal policy -- South Africa , South Africa -- Economic conditions , Income distribution -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61379 , vital:28020
- Description: In a world of economic uncertainty and manifold social problems, South Africa has its own unique challenges of low economic growth, persistent budget deficits that produce increasing government debt and the highest level of economic inequality in the world. The history of injustice and economic marginalisation and the failure of the economy to provide inclusive growth drives an urgent need to address economic inequality through tax policy, placing ever more focus on wealth taxes as a possible solution. There is a hope is that taxing the wealthy may provide the opportunity to redistribute desperately-needed resources to those denied the opportunity to build wealth and who are trapped in the cycle of poverty. Yet, as appealing as a new wealth tax may seem, the introduction of such a tax carries with it a range of risks, not all of which are known. Of great concern is the possible effect on the economy, which, in its vulnerable state, cannot afford any loss of capital and investment. Very little research has been done on wealth tax in the South African context and there is a dearth of literature focusing on the views and perceptions of the wealthy individuals themselves. This qualitative study investigates the merits and disadvantages of a new wealth tax and seeks to identify any unintended consequences that could result from the implementation of a new wealth tax in South Africa, drawing from historical and international experience and primary data obtained from interviews with individuals likely to be affected by such a tax. Having explored the literature and international experiences with wealth tax and having probed the thinking of wealthy individuals who would be the payers of a wealth tax, the study finds that a new wealth tax may contribute towards the progressivity of the tax system, but it is doubtful whether such a tax would provide a sustainable revenue stream that would be sufficient to address economic inequality and there is a risk of causing harm to the economy. Recognising that the motivation for wealth taxes is often driven more by political argument and public perception than by rational quantitative analysis, the study also anticipates the introduction of a new wealth tax and suggests guidelines for the design of such a tax within the framework for evaluating a good tax system. This study informs the debate on wealth taxes in South Africa and contributes to the design of such a tax, should it be implemented.
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- Date Issued: 2018
Tax revolts: an international perspective
- Authors: Tinotenda, Tariro Chizanga
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Taxation -- Public opinion , Taxation -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Income tax -- South Africa , South Africa -- Economic conditions , Fiscal policy -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MComm
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/166116 , vital:41330
- Description: The main goal of this study is to investigate whether tax revolts currently taking place and apparently threatening to take place in South Africa follow patterns shown in past international tax revolts or follow a unique pattern of their own. Tax revolts or tax rebellions are not a new phenomenon; they can be traced back to the beginning of time. Renowned tax revolts of the past include the Magna Carta and the Peasants’ Revolt in England, the Boston Tea Party, the Whiskey Rebellion, the Zimbabwean poll tax revolt, the Bambatha rebellion, the Tigre Rebellion, Proposition 13 and Margaret Thatcher’s poll tax revolt. These tax revolts were usually caused by the high burden of taxation, excessive government expenditure, corruption of government officials, declining tax morale of taxpayers and taxpayers’ perceptions of unfairness. In South Africa, elements of tax revolts have been on the rise. There has been a tax revolt against the e-tolling system in Gauteng since 2013. Non-payment of municipal rates is another form of tax revolt that has been and is happening in South Africa. Trade unions have also threatened strikes and mass action against various tax changes, including the value-added tax increase. Taxpayers, through media reporting, have been witnessing an increase in the use of taxpayers’ money for non-governmental agendas or overstated budgets. An increasing number of South Africans have been emigrating financially from South Africa to avoid a high taxation burden. The study falls within a post-positivist paradigm and an interpretive methodology is applied in the present research. The methodology is based on the fact that the social reality of tax revolts is not singular or objective, instead it is influenced by human experiences and social contexts. The study finds that tax revolts are currently occurring and threatening to occur in South Africa. The patterns of South African tax revolts are to a great extent similar to the patterns of international tax revolts, indicating the universalism of tax revolts. The study also confirms that South African tax revolts are, to a certain extent, unique.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Fiscal policy and unemployment in South Africa 1980 to 2010
- Authors: Murwirapachena, Genius
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Fiscal policy -- South Africa , Monetary policy -- South Africa , Labor economics -- South Africa , Unemployment -- South Africa , Labor policy -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Com
- Identifier: vital:11458 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/544 , Fiscal policy -- South Africa , Monetary policy -- South Africa , Labor economics -- South Africa , Unemployment -- South Africa , Labor policy -- South Africa
- Description: Unemployment is one of the greatest and most complex challenges facing South Africa. Just like most developing countries, South Africa has been using the fiscal policy framework as a tool to alleviate the high rates of unemployment. This study examined the impact of fiscal policy on unemployment in South Africa. The study used annual time series data for the period 1980 to 2010. A vector error correction model was used to determine the effects of fiscal policy aggregates on unemployment in South Africa. The fiscal policy aggregates considered in this study were government investment expenditure, government consumption expenditure and tax. Results from this study revealed that government consumption expenditure and tax have a positive impact on unemployment while government investment expenditure negatively affects unemployment in South Africa. Policy recommendations were made using these results.
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- Date Issued: 2011
Domestic tax law v double tax treaties in the context of controlled foreign companies
- Authors: Froom, Natalie Marie
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Taxation -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Fiscal policy -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/3559 , vital:20442
- Description: The South African fiscal legislators have found it necessary to introduce anti-avoidance legislation which governs controlled foreign companies in order to counteract schemes devised by taxpayers where companies are established outside South Africa for the purpose of diverting income from the South African fiscal net. Whilst the enforcement of such legislation does have merit in that the intention behind the introduction of such domestic legislation is to prevent the erosion of the South African tax base, it is submitted that this does pose a problem from an international perspective. The objective of this treatise is to conduct a critical analysis of how compatible the South African fiscal legislation which governs controlled foreign companies is with the provisions of the double taxation agreement as prescribed in terms of the OECD Model Tax Convention (which was published in July 2010). In addition, the aim of this study is to deduce whether the purpose of the double taxation agreement is not only the avoidance of juridical double taxation but also that it addresses the avoidance of economic double taxation. This will assist in determining whether domestic controlled foreign company legislation (as embodied in section 9D of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962) conflicts with the purpose of the double taxation agreement. By conducting an extensive research study and by depicting a certain scenario which addresses the issue at hand, the following is concluded: The tax treatment of the business profits generated by a controlled foreign company resident in a State outside South Africa and which have been generated from active business operating activities, is held to be in agreement with the provisions of the double taxation agreement. By contrast, the tax treatment of the controlled foreign company’s passive income in the form of interest income, is found not to correlate with the aforesaid agreement. As will be demonstrated in the chapters that follow, the controlled foreign company’s interest income is subjected to economic double taxation in terms of the scenario depicted in this treatise. This means that such income is taxed twice in the hands of two different taxpayers in two different States. As a result of this it is submitted that the following problem arises: Because section 9D of the Income Tax Act causes economic double taxation to occur (as illustrated in the previous paragraphs) and owing to the fact that the purpose of the double taxation agreement is the avoidance of economic double taxation, it can be shown that the section 9D domestic legislation conflicts with the terms of the double taxation agreement. This conflict is considered to be an area of concern because a contravention of the purpose of the double taxation agreement is regarded as a breach of the Contracting States’ international obligations in terms of the aforesaid agreement. It is further submitted that paragraph 23 of the OECD Commentary on article 1 and paragraph 14 of the OECD Commentary on article 7 are incorrect when they express the sentiment that domestic controlled foreign company legislation does not conflict with the provisions of the double taxation agreement. It is proposed that this be corrected to state the contrary.
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- Date Issued: 2014
The impact of fiscal and monetary policies on manufacturing sector performance in South Africa
- Authors: Hunter, Desireѐ
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: Manufacturing industries -- South Africa , Fiscal policy -- South Africa , Monetary policy -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/28549 , vital:74417
- Description: Regulatory authorities have to date utilised a strategic blend of fiscal and monetary policies in dealing with the unique set of macroeconomic conditions facing South Africa. Government policy intervention has significant implications for economic growth and output within the manufacturing environment. Heterogeneity has also been discerned in relation to the responsiveness of various industries within the manufacturing sector towards both fiscal and monetary policy variable variations. However, given weakened growth prospects, policy alignment issues have been observed. The purpose of this study was firstly, to examine the impact of fiscal and monetary variables on manufacturing sector output in South Africa and secondly, to analyse the manufacturing industry significance of the various monetary transmission mechanism channels. The study made use of quarterly and monthly data to achieve these stated objectives, dated between 1998 and 2020. To achieve the first objective, the study employed the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model given the order of integration of the variables. The empirical results revealed significant, positive relations between tax revenue, deficit financing, nominal effective exchange rate (NEER) and money supply (M3) for total manufacturing (LTOTAL). Contrastingly, there were negative links between LTOTAL, government spending and the lending rate. At a disaggregated industry level, there were positive relations with tax revenue in food and wood industries, although tax revenue was significantly negative for metals. Likewise, to LTOTAL, linkages with spending were significantly negative for wood and metal industries but positive for chemicals. Negative spending signage could be a result of crowding-out. For deficit financing, positive associations within chemicals did not conform to expectations. Similarly, to LTOTAL, wood and metal industries conformed to expectations of negative relations with the lending rate. In respect of the NEER in food and wood production, significant, positive links were established. Contrastingly, a negative linkage existed for chemical activities at the 5% level. Concerning M3 and akin to LTOTAL, the relation with metal industries was positive. However, negative findings for food and chemicals contradicted expectations, suggesting money supply was not efficiently utilised in managing monetary variables in the long-term. The second objective of the study focused on analysing manufacturing industry significance of the various monetary transmission mechanism channels. The Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) were employed to analyse the relationship between the variables. Impulse response and variance decomposition were also constructed to further trace which channel is more significant in influencing manufacturing output. The empirical results revealed that the interest rate channel occupied a relatively significant role in both LTOTAL and several selected manufacturing industries. Shocks accounted for 9.71%, 11.96% and 14.28% of the variance in LTOTAL, metal and chemical industries. The asset price channel also appeared relatively significant, with shocks to the FTSE/JSE all-share index explaining 18.21% and 21.13% of the variation in food and wood production, signifying the most relevant channel for these particular industries and representing the second most important channel for LTOTAL and the other remaining industries. The exchange rate channel also presented as being a more relevant channel for food and wood, but occupied little role in LTOTAL, whilst the credit channel was relatively ineffectual for both LTOTAL and all industries examined. The results obtained imply that government should exercise caution and demonstrate fiscal restraint and that the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) need to take greater consideration of output fluctuations in monetary policy setting. Research has dictated that an expansionary fiscal policy is generally required as a means to achieving increased growth. However, findings obtained at both the aggregate and disaggregated manufacturing level in South Africa largely varied. This implies significant heterogeneity within the South African manufacturing sector in respect of fiscal policy responses. Expansionary fiscal stimulus packages need to be better targeted towards industries that will most benefit. Similarly, monetary policy responses at the aggregate and disaggregated manufacturing level in South Africa were heterogeneous and furthermore, differed when examining combined policy impacts. There was also a heterogeneous response with respect to relevance of the channels, via which monetary policy operated, with the interest rate channel dominating. SARB do take into consideration output fluctuations in policy setting but this is not currently emphasised or legislated. , Thesis (DCom) -- Faculty of Management and Commerce, 2023
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- Date Issued: 2023