Browsing by Subject "Income Tax"

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    An analysis of income from staking crypto assets paid to a non-resident in terms of the South African Income Tax Act No. 58 of 1962, and a tax treaty established on the OECD Model Tax Convention
    (2025) Jordaan, Frederik Ernst; Hattingh, Johann; Parsons, Shaun
    The increasing prominence of crypto asset transactions has brought their tax implications into focus. This thesis explores whether returns from Decentralized Finance (DeFi) transactions, particularly staking activities, can be classified as interest for tax purposes under South African law and international tax treaties, specifically the 2017 OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and Capital (OECD Model). A comprehensive legal analysis, supported by an exemplar, is used to determine how these innovative financial transactions align with existing legal frameworks both domestically and internationally. South Africa, consistent with other jurisdictions, does not classify crypto assets as fiat currency or legal tender. Current guidance suggests that income derived from crypto asset transactions is subject to general tax rules, potentially taxed as ordinary income or capital gains. This paper assesses whether the returns from staking crypto assets resemble interest and could trigger the application of South Africa's withholding tax on interest (WTI). Section 24J of the Income Tax Act provides a non-exhaustive list of items considered as interest in relation to financial and lending arrangements, with the underlying principal in common law being that interest is compensation for the advancement of credit. Interestingly, across the definition under section 24J and the common law definition, the mutual understanding is that interest is not confined to arise from money or currency and can take various forms in substance. Under the OECD Model, interest is similarly defined as income from debt claims, with no explicit reference to money or currency. By contrast, the UK acknowledges similarities between DeFi returns and traditional interest but maintains that interest can only arise from money or currency, thus excluding DeFi returns from being considered as interest. This thesis examines whether staking returns from DeFi can be classified as interest under Article 11 of the OECD Model and whether tax treaties can reduce or eliminate South Africa's WTI on such returns. It concludes that staking returns could potentially be taxed as interest under South African law but underlines the need for clearer regulatory guidance at both national and international levels to address the growing complexities posed by DeFi.
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    Open Access
    Some tax implications of traditional knowledge under conventional Intellectual Property
    (2010) Gutuza, Tracy Lee
    The proposed incorporation of traditional intellectual property into the definition of copyright, trade-marks and designs as defined in the Copyright Act,1 the Trade Marks Act2 and the Designs Act3 may affect the income tax liability of parties where traditional knowledge is the object of such a transaction. The aim of this contribution is to consider the potential income tax consequences of this incorporation for those receiving income and incurring expenditure in relation to the use or disposal of traditional knowledge.
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    Tax avoidance and tax reduction within the framework of the South African income tax legislation, with special reference to the effect on the fiscus and to current anomalies and inequities
    (1958) Silke, Aubrey S; Hutt, W H; Greenwood, H
    The subject of tax avoidance and tax reduction within the framework of the income tax legislation has so far not been dealt with in any work in South Africa and this is, therefore, the first work of its kind. My approach in this work has generally been, firstly, to set out the effect of the law in the light of the court decisions, the depart- mental practice and my own interpretations; secondly, to consider and discuss the extent to which taxpayers can arrange their affairs within the letter of the law in order to avoid or reduce tax and the prejudicial effect on the public revenue, and finally to offer my criticisms, suggestions and recommendations. It was inevitable that during the course of my studies and investigation into the workings of the Income Tax Act and the incidence of the taxes levied, various anomalies, inequities and obscurities would present themselves. Although some of these bear no or little relation to the problem of tax avoidance and tax reduction, I have nevertheless considered it necessary to deal with them in this work. Often they lead to results quite opposed to well-established commercial and accountancy practice. I have attempted to show how this conflict that exists between the Income Tax Act and the accountant's and business man's approach frequently results in the taxable income not coinciding with the profits as ascertained on the basis of ordinary, commercial and accountancy principles. Many of these aspects have up till now received very scant thought, and I have, therefore, felt that they should be clarified with a view to making both the taxpaying public and the fiscus fully conscious of them. The legislator and the taxpayer should be ever mindful of anomalies, inequities and obscurities in the law, because only by continual discussion and criticism can one hope for their ultimate eradication and hence for a better and fairer tax system.