Unbeknown to many, the Master’s Office issued a directive in March 2017 stating that all new so-called “family business trusts” must appoint an independent trustee. Firstly, what is a “family business trust”? In brief, these trusts would have the following characteristics: The trustees have the power to contract with independent third parties, thereby creating trust…
In light of the 2018 budget, taxpayers can expect to pay higher taxes in a number of areas, including VAT, fuel levies, excise duties on alcohol and tobacco, and estate duty. It is therefore useful to know how you can reduce your tax burden at the end of the day so that you can plan…
Any wily Tax Practitioner can make sure that you hear what you want to hear. Interpreting the South African Income Tax Act in a favourable version is often the case when clients are expecting to give their tax responsibilities a wide berth but, according to Danielle Luwes of the accounting firm Hobbs Sinclair, decoding the…
Since its introduction in 2011 via Section 6 of The Companies Act, Business Rescue has slowly gained momentum as an alternative to liquidation. A principal difference from Business Rescue and liquidation is that while under the supervision of the business rescue practitioner, the company continues to trade, thus preventing the guaranteed loss of employment experienced…
Most financially distressed companies all have the same thing in common; poor working capital controls and employ a reactive working capital management strategy rather than a proactive approach. Improving the companies working capital through a proactive strategy can be a quick way to get your head above water without increasing sales or cutting cost. For…
It’s that time of year when tax-payers, especially those who have a high-taxed income and investable cash, shop for an investment vehicle for their lump sum investments. In the past RAs have been the most common option due to their tax benefits, but since extended limitations have been put in place, i.e. investment into a…
The worldwide attempt to reduce obesity has been given the ‘thumbs up’ by a few forward-thinking fiscal departments in several countries, with South Africa recently joining the fight against obesity. The proposed Sugar Tax Law – which argues for a 20% tax to be imposed on carbonated, sweetened beverages overall–, has been touted as a…
Most employees never talk about employee engagement, like it doesn’t even exist, but it does and it is more important than people think. The definition of employee engagement is a “workplace approach resulting in the right conditions for all members of an organisation to give of their best each day with an enhanced sense of…
By Wendy Simmons, Audit Manager at Hobbs Sinclair I love my job! I know that this is not usually heard from a stereotypical “little grey (wo)man in the corner” accountant (or worse, auditor), but I really do! I love the challenges, I love the interaction with clients, and I love seeing a client develop from…
If your tax advisors are still in the business of finding loopholes to lighten your tax load, your tax planning tactics are out of date. SARS has spent the last two decades and vast resources closing down tax schemes and structures that companies and individuals were using to minimise their tax burden. A more cost-effective tactic that SARS adopted in combating tax evasion was to lower the effective tax rate to a rate acceptable to the taxpayer, at the same time increasing the penalties for misbehaviour.