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Investigating the ability of taxpayers to determine the income tax consequences of cryptocurrency transactions in South Africa
In 2018, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) issued a media statement providing guidance for the first time to South African citizens on the taxation of cryptocurrency transactions. The SARS media guidelines indicate that the normal income tax rules of the South African Income Tax Act will appl...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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College of Accounting
2022
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| _version_ | 1867613404999450624 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Vumazonke, Namhla |
| author2 | Parsons, Shaun |
| author_browse | Parsons, Shaun Vumazonke, Namhla |
| author_facet | Parsons, Shaun Vumazonke, Namhla |
| author_sort | Vumazonke, Namhla |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | In 2018, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) issued a media statement providing guidance for the first time to South African citizens on the taxation of cryptocurrency transactions. The SARS media guidelines indicate that the normal income tax rules of the South African Income Tax Act will apply to cryptocurrency transactions and that cryptocurrency gains or losses must be declared as part of taxable income. The purpose of this research study was to investigate the ability of South African taxpayers to determine the income tax consequences of cryptocurrency transactions using the SARS media guidelines. Previous research has focused on establishing the theoretical income tax consequences of cryptocurrency transactions, rather than on the ability of taxpayers to determine those consequences. The study made use of both doctrinal and quantitative research methods to address the research questions. Using doctrinal research, in-depth document analysis was performed to benchmark the SARS media guidelines to that of selected tax authorities, to ascertain the completeness of this guidance. Quantitative data was collected through a cross-sectional survey questionnaire, to test the ability of participants to determine the income tax consequences of cryptocurrency transactions. This study found that the SARS media guidelines did not comprehensively address all the cryptocurrency transactions considered by the guidelines of the other selected tax authorities examined. The SARS media guidelines did not have a statistically significant effect on the participants' ability to determine the income tax consequences of the cryptocurrency transactions presented to them. However, the tax literacy level of participants was found to influence their understanding of the income tax consequences of cryptocurrency transactions, particularly in respect of those transactions not addressed by the SARS media guidelines. These findings support the recommendation that SARS provide more comprehensive guidance to taxpayers, and should focus on improving the tax literacy of taxpayers in general and, with respect to cryptocurrency transactions. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/36207 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:35:37.324Z |
| 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 | College of Accounting |
| publisherStr | College of Accounting |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/36207 Investigating the ability of taxpayers to determine the income tax consequences of cryptocurrency transactions in South Africa Vumazonke, Namhla Parsons, Shaun Cryptocurrency Experimental survey questionnaire South African income tax South African Revenue Service Tax literacy In 2018, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) issued a media statement providing guidance for the first time to South African citizens on the taxation of cryptocurrency transactions. The SARS media guidelines indicate that the normal income tax rules of the South African Income Tax Act will apply to cryptocurrency transactions and that cryptocurrency gains or losses must be declared as part of taxable income. The purpose of this research study was to investigate the ability of South African taxpayers to determine the income tax consequences of cryptocurrency transactions using the SARS media guidelines. Previous research has focused on establishing the theoretical income tax consequences of cryptocurrency transactions, rather than on the ability of taxpayers to determine those consequences. The study made use of both doctrinal and quantitative research methods to address the research questions. Using doctrinal research, in-depth document analysis was performed to benchmark the SARS media guidelines to that of selected tax authorities, to ascertain the completeness of this guidance. Quantitative data was collected through a cross-sectional survey questionnaire, to test the ability of participants to determine the income tax consequences of cryptocurrency transactions. This study found that the SARS media guidelines did not comprehensively address all the cryptocurrency transactions considered by the guidelines of the other selected tax authorities examined. The SARS media guidelines did not have a statistically significant effect on the participants' ability to determine the income tax consequences of the cryptocurrency transactions presented to them. However, the tax literacy level of participants was found to influence their understanding of the income tax consequences of cryptocurrency transactions, particularly in respect of those transactions not addressed by the SARS media guidelines. These findings support the recommendation that SARS provide more comprehensive guidance to taxpayers, and should focus on improving the tax literacy of taxpayers in general and, with respect to cryptocurrency transactions. 2022-03-22T11:37:31Z 2022-03-22T11:37:31Z 2021 2022-03-22T07:43:50Z Master Thesis Masters MCom http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36207 eng application/pdf College of Accounting Faculty of Commerce |
| spellingShingle | Cryptocurrency Experimental survey questionnaire South African income tax South African Revenue Service Tax literacy Vumazonke, Namhla Investigating the ability of taxpayers to determine the income tax consequences of cryptocurrency transactions in South Africa |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Investigating the ability of taxpayers to determine the income tax consequences of cryptocurrency transactions in South Africa |
| title_full | Investigating the ability of taxpayers to determine the income tax consequences of cryptocurrency transactions in South Africa |
| title_fullStr | Investigating the ability of taxpayers to determine the income tax consequences of cryptocurrency transactions in South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigating the ability of taxpayers to determine the income tax consequences of cryptocurrency transactions in South Africa |
| title_short | Investigating the ability of taxpayers to determine the income tax consequences of cryptocurrency transactions in South Africa |
| title_sort | investigating the ability of taxpayers to determine the income tax consequences of cryptocurrency transactions in south africa |
| topic | Cryptocurrency Experimental survey questionnaire South African income tax South African Revenue Service Tax literacy |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36207 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT vumazonkenamhla investigatingtheabilityoftaxpayerstodeterminetheincometaxconsequencesofcryptocurrencytransactionsinsouthafrica |