In order to create a more uniform system for the administration of taxes in South Africa, section 191 of the Tax Administration Act, 2011 (the “TAA”) has effectively replaced various refund and set-off provisions which appeared in respective tax acts. Section 191 of the TAA now provides that all tax debts that are due must be set-off against refunds, including the interest thereon, due by the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) to that taxpayer ...
A recent decision involving registered designs is a reminder of how useful design law can be, in the sense that it can be used to protect an almost limitless range of products. The decision in the UK case of Ahmet Erol v Sumaira Javaid (Design) (a decision of the Appointed Person, 18 May 2017) does not create any law, but it does illustrate two things. The first is how registered designs can often be very low-tech ...
In view of the impending implementation of the Portable Gratuity Retirement Fund (“PRGF”), the Minister of Labour, Human Resource Development and Training has issued The Workers’ Rights (Portable Retirement Gratuity Fund) Regulations 2020 (the “PRGF Regulations”), deemed effective as from January 1, 2020. The implementation of the PRGF was, by a decision of Cabinet on December 13, 2019, postponed from 1 January 2020 to 1 April 2020 ...
On 15 December 2017, the South African Department of Trade and Industry (the “DTI”) published a memorandum of understanding entered into between the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (the “CIPC”) and the Broad-Based Black Empowerment Commission (the “B-BBEE Commission”) (the “CIPC MOU”) ...
The South African tax provisions applicable to real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) were introduced by way of the insertion of section 25BB of the Income Tax Act, 1962 (the “Act”), as well as consequential insertions in various sections of the Act during 2013. These provisions relating to REITs have been subject to various changes and refinements over time in order to resolve various issues and legislative anomalies ...
On 10 August 2021, the South African Minister of Employment and Labour gazetted Regulations which established a temporary financial relief scheme for workers who have lost income due to the partial or full closure of workplaces destroyed, damaged, looted or otherwise affected by the recent unrest. The scheme is a welcome intervention in circumstances where workers are unable to work due to the looting or riots and are not entitled to remuneration ...
There are a number of considerations when relocating to another country that involve much more than a mere physical departure and the taking up of permanent residence in a foreign country. In South Africa, an individual will continue to be regarded as a South African resident for exchange control purposes until such time as the South African Reserve Bank (the “SARB”) has provided him/her with formal emigration approval ...
Section 5 of the Income Tax Act (Cap. 340) (the “ITA”) has been amended to, among others, include a requirement that all rental agreements be executed and effected in Uganda shillings.Below, we summarise this new legal requirement.What is the Meaning of the New Requirement?All rental agreements executed after the law comes into force must express the rent in Uganda shillings and must be payable in Uganda shillings.Is the Law in Force?Yes, the law took effect on 1 July 2017 ...
The reportable arrangement provisions were established by the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) with the objective of obtaining information on certain types of transactions. The circumstances under which a person should report an “arrangement” to SARS, as defined in section 34 of the Tax Administration Act, 2011 (the “TAA”), are contained in sections 34 to 39 of the TAA ...
Can an employer require its employees to speak a specific language or to be of a specific nationality as an inherent requirement of the job? Can an employee be dismissed for operational requirements if the employee is unable to speak that language or is not of a specific nationality? Would this be automatically unfair on the basis of unfair discrimination? This issue, along with several other claims, was what the Labour Appeal Court (“LAC”) had to decide in the matter of
The South African Minister of Mineral Resources, Gwede Mantashe, published a notice in the government gazette on 28 June 2018 stating that there will be a restriction, in terms of section 49(1) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 (“MPRDA”), on the granting of applications for technical co-operation permits, exploration rights and production rights in terms of section 76, 79, and 83 of the MPRDA, from the date of publication of the notice (28 June 2018
What are the legal consequences of an employee continuing to work after the employee has reached the agreed upon retirement age? Does a new contract of employment come into force or does the old contract continue operating? Can an employer still terminate employment on the basis that the employee has reached (and passed) their retirement age? These questions have been the subject of much debate over the years ...
South Africans who think that their tax burden is going to decrease because country-by-country (“CbC”) reporting does not apply to their company should think again!In addition to the recently released draft notice requiring the submission of CbC reports, master file and local file returns, the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) has recently issued the External Business Requirements Specification (“BRS”) document, setting out CbC and Financial Data
The Paris Agreement (the “Agreement”) was signed on Friday, 22 April 2016 in New York. This adds further impetus to the international response to climate change and, for the local economy, it re-emphasises the importance of South Africa’s national greenhouse gas mitigation actions, including the carbon tax ...
First published in October 2003, the National Code of Corporate Governance for Mauritius (“the Code”) was revised in 2016 to align it with new laws and guidelines in Mauritius, as well as to recognise, learn and apply governance lessons from the global financial crisis, and identify and apply international best practices for Mauritius to remain a jurisdiction of choice with the highest standards of corporate governance in Africa ...
It’s been widely reported that Roger Federer has signed a 10-year, USD300-million sponsorship deal with the clothing brand UNIQLO. The new deal was announced with some style when Roger walked out on Wimbledon Centre Court in his fancy new threads on the first day of the 2018 championships. The UNIQLO deal is interesting in a number of respects ...
The rules regarding the levying of interest on the late payment of value added tax (“VAT”) are often confusing, and the introduction of the Tax Administration Act, No 28 of 2011 (the “TAA”) has contributed to the uncertainty as to the rules that are applicable. Levying of interest The TAA introduced a new interest regime for the levying of interest on unpaid taxes to ensure that the levying of interest is aligned across all taxes ...
In Malatji v Minister of Home Affairs and Another, the South African Labour Appeal Court (“LAC”) had to determine when mora interest (interest accrued on overdue payment) should begin running. In circumstances where the Labour Court had ordered the substitution of an arbitration award granting retrospective reinstatement with an order for the payment of compensation, but had made no provision for the timing of interest ...
On 20 May 2019, Rwanda was admitted as a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”) Development Centre, becoming the first East African country to join the Development Centre. Founded in 1961, the OECD Development Centre is an independent platform that enables developed economies to interact, share knowledge and have policy dialogues with developing economies ...
With effect from 14 March 2020, Rwanda’s Ministry of Health and other governmental bodies have issued several measures that will be implemented in order to mitigate the risk of the coronavirus (COVID-19). This was turned into an almost total lockdown with immediate effect by a communiqué issued by the Office of the Prime Minister on 21 March 2020 and which will be in force during a two-week period (with possibility of extension) ...
During the last two days, the Labour Court judgment in the matter of Solidarity and Others v The South African Broadcasting Corporation (“SABC”) (case no. J 1343/16, 26 July 2016) has been widely publicised and is well-known to South Africans. The judgment relates to a protest policy recently introduced by the SABC, in terms of which it would no longer broadcast footage of destruction of public property during protests ...
