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A comparative analysis of the foreign tax credit system of South Africa, with specific reference to corporate taxpayers and technical service fees

The growth in the worldwide services economy combined with an expansion by South African multinational enterprises into the African market has often resulted in increased instances of double taxation for South African corporate taxpayers, as a result of the fact that the majority of the jurisdiction...

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Main Author: Allanson, Douglas
Other Authors: Roeleveld, Jennifer
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Finance and Tax 2022
Subjects:
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access_status_str Open Access
author Allanson, Douglas
author2 Roeleveld, Jennifer
author_browse Allanson, Douglas
Roeleveld, Jennifer
author_facet Roeleveld, Jennifer
Allanson, Douglas
author_sort Allanson, Douglas
collection Thesis
description The growth in the worldwide services economy combined with an expansion by South African multinational enterprises into the African market has often resulted in increased instances of double taxation for South African corporate taxpayers, as a result of the fact that the majority of the jurisdictions in Africa apply a withholding tax on technical service income paid to nonresidents. The ability to claim relief for the juridical double taxation suffered as a result of the withholding tax applied is governed in South African tax legislation by section 6quat of the Act. This paper analyses section 6quat of the Act with particular reference to the relief available and unavailable to taxpayers for foreign taxes paid in relation to withholding taxes on technical service fee income, in treaty and non-treaty scenarios. The issue of continued double taxation, despite the relief mechanisms of section 6quat, resulting from source issues and the provision of services remotely from South Africa or differing interpretation on the application of Double Taxation Agreements by South Africa and the foreign jurisdictions for example, are also reviewed. South Africa's relief mechanisms are then compared to the relief mechanisms of 5 other jurisdictions (peer nations who export services) to determine if any of these jurisdictions have more advanced ideas for the reduction of juridical double taxation in the context of technical service fees. It is determined in the final analysis that South African taxpayers are not alone with regard to the problem of unrelieved double taxation despite the best efforts of local legislation to provide some form of relief. None of the jurisdictions reviewed have mechanisms in place that provide full relief whilst also protecting the tax base. A number of recommendations are given for ways that South Africa could possibly improve the situation and reduce instances of juridical double taxation. The most obvious being a wide treaty network, with up-to-date treaties, with as many jurisdictions as possible, with a technical services article.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:32:20.328Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2022
publishDateRange 2022
publishDateSort 2022
publisher Department of Finance and Tax
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spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/35482 A comparative analysis of the foreign tax credit system of South Africa, with specific reference to corporate taxpayers and technical service fees Allanson, Douglas Roeleveld, Jennifer Taxation The growth in the worldwide services economy combined with an expansion by South African multinational enterprises into the African market has often resulted in increased instances of double taxation for South African corporate taxpayers, as a result of the fact that the majority of the jurisdictions in Africa apply a withholding tax on technical service income paid to nonresidents. The ability to claim relief for the juridical double taxation suffered as a result of the withholding tax applied is governed in South African tax legislation by section 6quat of the Act. This paper analyses section 6quat of the Act with particular reference to the relief available and unavailable to taxpayers for foreign taxes paid in relation to withholding taxes on technical service fee income, in treaty and non-treaty scenarios. The issue of continued double taxation, despite the relief mechanisms of section 6quat, resulting from source issues and the provision of services remotely from South Africa or differing interpretation on the application of Double Taxation Agreements by South Africa and the foreign jurisdictions for example, are also reviewed. South Africa's relief mechanisms are then compared to the relief mechanisms of 5 other jurisdictions (peer nations who export services) to determine if any of these jurisdictions have more advanced ideas for the reduction of juridical double taxation in the context of technical service fees. It is determined in the final analysis that South African taxpayers are not alone with regard to the problem of unrelieved double taxation despite the best efforts of local legislation to provide some form of relief. None of the jurisdictions reviewed have mechanisms in place that provide full relief whilst also protecting the tax base. A number of recommendations are given for ways that South Africa could possibly improve the situation and reduce instances of juridical double taxation. The most obvious being a wide treaty network, with up-to-date treaties, with as many jurisdictions as possible, with a technical services article. 2022-01-17T07:37:33Z 2022-01-17T07:37:33Z 2021 2022-01-12T07:30:22Z Master Thesis Masters MCom http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35482 eng application/pdf Department of Finance and Tax Faculty of Commerce
spellingShingle Taxation
Allanson, Douglas
A comparative analysis of the foreign tax credit system of South Africa, with specific reference to corporate taxpayers and technical service fees
thesis_degree_str Master's
title A comparative analysis of the foreign tax credit system of South Africa, with specific reference to corporate taxpayers and technical service fees
title_full A comparative analysis of the foreign tax credit system of South Africa, with specific reference to corporate taxpayers and technical service fees
title_fullStr A comparative analysis of the foreign tax credit system of South Africa, with specific reference to corporate taxpayers and technical service fees
title_full_unstemmed A comparative analysis of the foreign tax credit system of South Africa, with specific reference to corporate taxpayers and technical service fees
title_short A comparative analysis of the foreign tax credit system of South Africa, with specific reference to corporate taxpayers and technical service fees
title_sort comparative analysis of the foreign tax credit system of south africa with specific reference to corporate taxpayers and technical service fees
topic Taxation
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35482
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