Browsing by Author "Fitschen, Amanda"

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    A critical assessment of the capital gains tax as a fiscal policy tool for South Africa
    (2006) Marcus, Matthew; Fitschen, Amanda
    This dissertation attempts to critically analyse the tax on capital gains as an addition to South Africa's fiscal framework. The method of the analysis involves the collation of international research on the effects of capital gains tax on the economies, financial markets, labour markets and revenue authorities of various countries. The focus is on the economic and fiscal areas directly relating to the long-term economic and fiscal policy goals of the South African government. These goals, as well as the justification given by the South African Department of Finance and the South African Revenue Service for the introduction of the capital gains tax are presented in the literature review section of this study. Research of international tax practices indicates that the taxing of capital gains has a depressive effect on capital formation, labour productivity, foreign and domestic direct investment, business creation, entrepreneurship and taxpayer equity. In addition, the introduction of such a tax has no proven growth effects on governmental revenue, and does not significantly dissuade tax avoidance schemes using arbitrage measures. By applying the globally observed effects of the capital gains tax to the long-term policy goals mentioned above, I conclude that the capital gains tax does not assist in the achievement of the economic and fiscal policy goals of the South African government, neither in the short- nor the long-term. Conversely, the capital gains tax acts as a countermeasure to the achievement of the said goals.
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    Student financial aid at South African universities and technikons
    (1997) Wakeford, Jeremy; Archer, Sean; Fitschen, Amanda
    Given the striking inequality of access to tertiary education in South Africa, a National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is of great importance. Since the present NSFAS has insufficient funds and lacks a long-term plan, the objective of this study is to contribute to the development of proposals for a comprehensive, sustainable NSFAS. More specifically, the aims are to: ( 1) throw light on the current status of student financial aid at universities and technikons; (2) highlight implications for the NSFAS; and (3) consider the future role of institution-based schemes. The paper begins by drawing lessons from a selection of international literature. The main body of the text is based on responses to a survey questionnaire which included both multiple-choice and open-ended questions. All twenty-one universities and twelve out of fifteen technikons submitted written replies. The paper presents and analyses quantitative and qualitative data describing financial and administrative aspects of institutions' schemes for assisting undergraduate/pre-diplomate, full-time students. The survey revealed that half of the total resources available for financial aid came from the Tertiary Education Fund of South Africa and a quarter from institutions' general operating budgets. The remaining contributions came from various donors including Provincial Governments, non-governmental organisations, international agencies and South African private sector firms. Bursaries, and to a lessor extent loans, are the main types of financial aid received by needy students. Scholarships and sports awards are allocated according to merit rather than financial need. Differences (such as sources and types of aid) are identified between the financial aid schemes of universities and technikons, and of historically black and historically white institutions. Comparisons of aggregate data with figures presented by the National Commission on Higher Education (NCHE) showed similarities in some instances, but the NCHE's projection of gross student needs in 1996 was far greater than the resources reportedly available to institutions from all sources. Institution-based schemes do not always comply with the lessons from international experience: the aggregate bursary/loan mix is favourable; the degree of cost recovery is inconclusive; targeting of needy students is sound in theory but difficult in practice; and mortgage-type loans, rather than internationally recommended income-contingent loans, are the norm, and they have substantial hidden subsidies. Implications for the NSFAS include the following: standardisation of the means test and the definition of "legitimate" study costs is desirable on equity grounds; administrative difficulties experienced by financial aid bureaux impact on the NSF AS and therefore more resources are required in this area. With regard to the future role of institution-based schemes: a levelling of the playing fields with respect to the contributions by institutions themselves to financial aid is suggested; institution-based loan schemes may be viewed as complementary to the NSFAS (in that they target students with different characteristics), which provides a theoretical reason for the creation of a centralised mortgage-type loan scheme to harness private sector capital. Such decisions need to be based on detailed assessments of efficiency which are beyond the scope of this paper.