SARS: 

• Guides (new, updated & issued): 

  • Draft guide to building allowances (Issue 2) 

  • List of qualifying physical impairment or disability expenditure – Effective 1 March 2020 

  • Guide on Venture Capital Companies 

  • Tax Guide for Share Owners (Issue 7) 

• Interpretation Notes (updated & issued): 

  • Interpretation Note 67 (Issue 4) – Connected persons 

  • Interpretation Note 16 (Issue 3) – Exemption from income tax: Foreign employment income 

  • Interpretation Note 75 (Issue 3) – Exclusion of certain companies and shares from a "group of companies" as defined in section 41(1) 

  • Interpretation Note 44 (Issue 3) – Public Benefit Organisations: Capital gains tax 

  • Draft Interpretation Note – Doubtful debts and accompanying documents 

  • Draft Interpretation Note – Public Benefit Organisations: Provision of residential care for retired persons 

• Binding Rulings (Private/Class/General) issued: 

  • BPR 337 – Amalgamation transactions involving the assumption of liabilities only   

  • BPR 338 – Donations of money made to a public benefit organisation at a fundraising event 

  • BPR 339 – Transfer of listed shares to a collective investment scheme in exchange for participatory interests 

  • BPR 340 – Share buy-back at nominal value 

  • BGR 9 (Issue 4) – Taxes on income and substantially similar taxes for purposes of South Africa’s tax treaties 

  • Draft BGR – Unbundling of unlisted company: Impact of non-qualifying shareholders 

• Notices and other publications issued: 

  • Notice 37, amending regulations under items (a) and (c) of the definition of "determined value" in paragraph 7(1) of the Seventh Schedule to the Income Tax Act, 1962, on the retail market value in respect of right of use of motor vehicle 

  • Explanatory Memorandum on the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill, 2019 

  • Final Response Document on the 2019 Draft Tax Bills – 21 January 2020 

  • Updated Table of interest rates: Table 3 – Rates at which interest-free or low interest loans are subject to income tax 

  • Section 12I Tax Allowance Programme – Department of Trade and Industry – Publication of decisions to approve, not approve or withdraw approval of applications received for the tax allowance programme under section 12I(12)(a)(i)(aa) and (19)(d) 

  • Income tax notices, scheduled for publication in the Government Gazette, under section 8(1) relating to daily amounts in respect of meals and incidental costs, and rate per kilometre in respect of motor vehicles – effective 1 March 2020 

  • Taxation proposals as tabled by the Minister of Finance during the 2020 National Budget Review on 26 February 2020 

  • Draft Bill – Draft 2020 Rates and Monetary Amounts and Amendment of Revenue Laws Bill 

• Tax Court cases: 

  • IT 13798, IT 13931 and TAdm 14294 – Capital gains tax and capital losses; employee share incentive scheme and trust; meaning of "asset" as defined in the Eighth Schedule and whether that definition includes a personal right 

  • VAT 1390 – Whether the delivery of food orders to the taxpayer’s customers constitutes a service supplied by it for consideration in the course, or in furtherance, of its enterprise, and hence whether the delivery charges were subject to output tax 

  • IT 24819 

  • VAT 2063  

  • TAdm 00052/2018  

  • TAdm 24643 – Whether statement lacked sufficient averments necessary to sustain a finding of gross negligence 

  • VAT 1610 – Whether the Appellant was entitled to input tax and output tax claims relating to re-organising loans and substituting foreign loans 

• High Court cases: 

  • Dragon Freight (Pty) Limited and Others v CSARS (82686/19) [2019] ZAGPPHC 626 

  • Siphayi and Another v CSARS and Others (34975/2019) [2019] ZAGPJHC 455 

  • Glencore Operations SA (Pty) Limited v CSARS (11696/18) [2019] ZAGPPHC 545  

  • Flordis South Africa (Pty) Limited v CSARS (61689/2015) [2019] ZAGPPHC 546 

  • Gold Kid Trading CC v CSARS (2016/31842) [2018] ZAGPJHC 710 – The jurisdiction of the High Court to entertain ordinary review applications not ousted by the legislative powers given to the Tax Court 

  • Agricultural and Industrial Mechanisation (Pty) Ltd v CSARS (21164/2017) ZAGPJHC 

  • Peter v CSARS (3158/2018) ZAGPJHC 

  • Brits and 3 Others v CSARS (2017-44380) ZAGPJHC – Applicant subject of VAT audit 

  • Canyon Resources (Pty) Ltd v CSARS (68281/2016) [2019] ZAGPPHC – Interpretation of post-recovery and post-mining activities; interpretation of in respect of mining of coal 

  • Medtronic International v CSARS (33400/19) [2020] ZAGPPHC – Whether CSARS should have included internal e-mail correspondence between staff as part of the record in a Rule 53 review application 

• Supreme Court of Appeal cases: 

  • CSARS v South African Breweries (Pty) Ltd (442/2017) [2018] ZASCA 101 (27 June 2018) – Classification of products for determination of excise duty rate 

IFRS: 

• Standards – What’s new? 

  • IFRS Monthly news summaries 

CIPC: 

• Notices and Practice Notes issued (enforcement and to customers): 

  • Notice 1 of 2020 – Disparity of registration numbers and incorporation dates 

  • Notice 4 of 2020 – Discontinuation of 3rd party model 

  • Notice 5 of 2020 – Compulsory Name Reservation for Co-Operatives 

  • Notice 6 of 2020 – Expansion of mobile services 

  • Notice 9 of 2020 – Companies Compliance Checklist on e-Services: CIPC confirms that this only applies to companies that are audited/independently reviewed, and the Compliance Year is clarified 

Labour Law: 

• Employment law: 

  • Amended Regulations in terms of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act – New summary must be displayed in the workplace 

Other Laws & Regulations affecting your client AND impact on NOCLAR: 

• This period’s 3 sets of big 5 include: 

  • The Companies Act (Annual return compliance checklist); 

  • The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Draft Amendment Bill & Comment deadline extension); 

  • The Income Tax Act (Amendment Acts); 

  • The Public Administration Act (Draft regulations); and 

  • The Occupational Health and Safety Act (Ergonomics regulations). 

  • The Basic Conditions of Employment Act (Summary to be kept by an employer); 

  • The Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act (Reduction in sodium levels & Maximum pesticide residues); 

  • The National Environmental Management Act (Environmental assessment practitioner registration); and 

  • The Special Investigating Units and Special Tribunals Act (Investigations & Masters offices) 

  • The Auditing Profession Act (Amendment Bill 2020); and 

  • The Competition Act (Buyer power and price discrimination & Draft guidelines automotive aftermarket industry) 

• Other Acts and articles: 

  • Expat tax kicked in on 1 March 2020 – Here’s what you need to know 

Regulator news: 

• IRBA News & press releases: 

  • IRBA foresees audit reforms will regain confidence in profession if audit firms follow suit 

  • IFIAR issues Report on the 2019 Global Inspections Findings Survey 

  • New Process: Online Submission of Assurance Work Declaration and Firm Related Information 2020  

• SAICA press releases & other publications: 

  • SAICA Guide in Respect of the Duties of the Commissioner of Oaths (Revised January 2020 – Version 4) 

  • SAICA’s Top Tips for SMEs 

  • SAICA’s latest developments in the auditing profession – interesting articles that also affect SMEs 

• Companies Tribunal: 

  • 6 Decisions reached on cases heard (1 Name disputes, 1 AGM, 3 Exemptions from SEC, 1 Directorship dispute, 0 Reviews) 

• FIC Advisory & Guidance:  

  • Disclosure of Facts or Information Regarding the Contents of Section 29 Reports 

  • Call for comments: Draft PCC 109 on the Commencement and Enforcement of the FIC Act as amended by the FIC Amendment Act 

  • PCC 43 issued dealing with customer due diligence (CDD) in relation to shared clients 

  • Call for comments: Draft PCC 107 on the Use of an Automated Transaction Monitoring System for the Detection and Submission of Regulatory Reports 

  • Call for comments: Draft PCC 106 on Item 1 of Schedule 1 to the FIC Act 

• CGSO & National Consumer Commission:  

  • CGSO Quarterly Newsletter 

  • NCC notes with concern attempted bribery of its officials by suppliers 

• SARS media releases: 

  • SARS wins 10-year battle against non-compliant taxpayer 

  • Tax fraudsters sentenced in high court 

• FSCA publications & press releases: 

  • Intergovernmental FinTech working group publishes a report on its 2019 workshops 

  • Press Release on 36ONE Asset Management (Pty) Ltd 

  • 10 Warnings issued to the public against fraudulent FSPs 

General Announcements / News Releases: 

• Media articles:  

  • New perks which could be widely introduced at South African companies