Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

An analysis of the current framework for the exchange of taxpayer information, with special reference to the taxpayer in South Africa's constitutional rights to privacy and just administrative action

Internationally, as well as in South Africa, legal reform aimed at increasing taxpayer information transparency has gained momentum over the past few years, especially in the light of the G20 led Base Erosion and Profit Shifting ('BEPS') Project. Ensuring that the fundamental rights of the taxpayer,...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Möller, Louise
Other Authors: Hattingh, Johann
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Finance and Tax 2016
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867613414993428480
access_status_str Open Access
author Möller, Louise
author2 Hattingh, Johann
author_browse Hattingh, Johann
Möller, Louise
author_facet Hattingh, Johann
Möller, Louise
author_sort Möller, Louise
collection Thesis
description Internationally, as well as in South Africa, legal reform aimed at increasing taxpayer information transparency has gained momentum over the past few years, especially in the light of the G20 led Base Erosion and Profit Shifting ('BEPS') Project. Ensuring that the fundamental rights of the taxpayer, guaranteed by the Constitution1, remain protected amidst the hurried implementation of these reforms is of paramount importance and cannot be overlooked or deferred. To a great extent, the question as to whether the current rules, regulations, and practices surrounding exchange of taxpayer information in South Africa would pass constitutional muster has, as yet, gone unasked and unanswered in academic literature. This minor dissertation seeks to identify and analyse the constitutional questions raised by these existing rules and practices, with special reference to the constitutional rights of taxpayers in South Africa. Specifically, the current framework for both the automatic exchange of information and exchange upon request is considered in the context of two constitutional rights, namely the right to privacy and the right to just administrative action, with due recognition of the general limitation of rights provided for in the Constitution. Importantly, this paper does not dispute the need for exchange of taxpayer information in principle, nor the desirability of effective tax administration. It is furthermore appreciated and acknowledged that a balance must be struck between the often competing interests of the South African Revenue Service ('SARS') as an administrator seeking to discharge its mandate in the most efficient manner possible, and the fundamental rights of the taxpayer.
format Thesis
id oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/20976
institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:35:46.855Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2016
publishDateRange 2016
publishDateSort 2016
publisher Department of Finance and Tax
publisherStr Department of Finance and Tax
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/20976 An analysis of the current framework for the exchange of taxpayer information, with special reference to the taxpayer in South Africa's constitutional rights to privacy and just administrative action Möller, Louise Hattingh, Johann Roeleveld, Jennifer Taxation Internationally, as well as in South Africa, legal reform aimed at increasing taxpayer information transparency has gained momentum over the past few years, especially in the light of the G20 led Base Erosion and Profit Shifting ('BEPS') Project. Ensuring that the fundamental rights of the taxpayer, guaranteed by the Constitution1, remain protected amidst the hurried implementation of these reforms is of paramount importance and cannot be overlooked or deferred. To a great extent, the question as to whether the current rules, regulations, and practices surrounding exchange of taxpayer information in South Africa would pass constitutional muster has, as yet, gone unasked and unanswered in academic literature. This minor dissertation seeks to identify and analyse the constitutional questions raised by these existing rules and practices, with special reference to the constitutional rights of taxpayers in South Africa. Specifically, the current framework for both the automatic exchange of information and exchange upon request is considered in the context of two constitutional rights, namely the right to privacy and the right to just administrative action, with due recognition of the general limitation of rights provided for in the Constitution. Importantly, this paper does not dispute the need for exchange of taxpayer information in principle, nor the desirability of effective tax administration. It is furthermore appreciated and acknowledged that a balance must be struck between the often competing interests of the South African Revenue Service ('SARS') as an administrator seeking to discharge its mandate in the most efficient manner possible, and the fundamental rights of the taxpayer. 2016-07-28T12:24:15Z 2016-07-28T12:24:15Z 2016 Master Thesis Masters MCom http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20976 eng application/pdf Department of Finance and Tax Faculty of Commerce University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Taxation
Möller, Louise
An analysis of the current framework for the exchange of taxpayer information, with special reference to the taxpayer in South Africa's constitutional rights to privacy and just administrative action
thesis_degree_str Master's
title An analysis of the current framework for the exchange of taxpayer information, with special reference to the taxpayer in South Africa's constitutional rights to privacy and just administrative action
title_full An analysis of the current framework for the exchange of taxpayer information, with special reference to the taxpayer in South Africa's constitutional rights to privacy and just administrative action
title_fullStr An analysis of the current framework for the exchange of taxpayer information, with special reference to the taxpayer in South Africa's constitutional rights to privacy and just administrative action
title_full_unstemmed An analysis of the current framework for the exchange of taxpayer information, with special reference to the taxpayer in South Africa's constitutional rights to privacy and just administrative action
title_short An analysis of the current framework for the exchange of taxpayer information, with special reference to the taxpayer in South Africa's constitutional rights to privacy and just administrative action
title_sort analysis of the current framework for the exchange of taxpayer information with special reference to the taxpayer in south africa s constitutional rights to privacy and just administrative action
topic Taxation
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20976
work_keys_str_mv AT mollerlouise ananalysisofthecurrentframeworkfortheexchangeoftaxpayerinformationwithspecialreferencetothetaxpayerinsouthafricasconstitutionalrightstoprivacyandjustadministrativeaction
AT mollerlouise analysisofthecurrentframeworkfortheexchangeoftaxpayerinformationwithspecialreferencetothetaxpayerinsouthafricasconstitutionalrightstoprivacyandjustadministrativeaction