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A review of South Africa’s approach to the taxation of the digital economy in light of international developments

Mini Dissertation (MPhil (International Taxation))--University of Pretoria, 2020.

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Other Authors: Oguttu, Annet Wanyana
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2021
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Oguttu, Annet Wanyana
author_browse Oguttu, Annet Wanyana
author_facet Oguttu, Annet Wanyana
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2021 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Mini Dissertation (MPhil (International Taxation))--University of Pretoria, 2020.
format Thesis
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:38:07.678Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2021
publishDateRange 2021
publishDateSort 2021
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
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source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/80465 A review of South Africa’s approach to the taxation of the digital economy in light of international developments Oguttu, Annet Wanyana u14171296@tuks.co.za Makibela, Lorraine UCTD Digital economy digital services significant economic presence unilateral measures taxable nexus Mini Dissertation (MPhil (International Taxation))--University of Pretoria, 2020. The emergence and progression of the digital economy has distorted the core principles of international taxation. Foreign multinational companies now have the ability to fundamentally operate in market jurisdictions without having a ―physical presence‖. This poses a various challenges to the current international tax regimes because it enables businesses to have a ―significant economic presence‖ without a taxable nexus. Therefore, it becomes extremely difficult to ―ring-fence‖ the digital economy. The Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has attempted to address these challenges in Action 1 of its Base Erosion Profit Shifting (BEPS) Plan report entitled ―Addressing the Tax Challenges of the Digital Economy - Action 1: 2015 Report‖. Action 1 recommended a few proposals to address the challenges presented in taxing the digital economy, but they were not agreed upon. In the absence of a consensus on the proposals in Action 1, especially from a direct tax perspective, a number of countries began to explore unilateral measures in order to protect their tax base. South Africa is referred to as the ―getaway to Africa‖ and considering South Africa‘s importance in the global economy, it is imperative to ascertain South Africa‘s approach to taxing the digital economy. This study will assess South Africa‘s approach to taxing the digital economy within the international tax spectrum. This assessment will be based on a review of the unilateral approaches taken by other jurisdictions, to determine whether South Africa has taken the correct stance in not taking direct tax measures so far, as well as to assess whether there is anything else South Africa can do to protect its tax base as it awaits global consensus on the taxation of the digital economy. The observations of this study discovered that the unilateral measures taken by the various countries have caused retaliations by trade partners, impractical implementation issues and has created greater uncertainty. This study affirms that South Africa‘s subtle approach to taxing the digital economy was correct and that the expansion of its current source taxation rules should be considered in order to protect the South African tax base whilst a ―global consensus‖ on taxing the digital economy is still to be reached. pt2021 Taxation MPhil (International Taxation) Unrestricted 2021-06-22T12:29:12Z 2021-06-22T12:29:12Z 2021/04/28 2020 Mini Dissertation Makibela, L 2020, A review of South Africa’s approach to the taxation of the digital economy in light of international developments, MPhil (International Taxation) Mini Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/80465> http://hdl.handle.net/2263/80465 en © 2021 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Digital economy
digital services
significant economic presence
unilateral measures
taxable nexus
A review of South Africa’s approach to the taxation of the digital economy in light of international developments
title A review of South Africa’s approach to the taxation of the digital economy in light of international developments
title_full A review of South Africa’s approach to the taxation of the digital economy in light of international developments
title_fullStr A review of South Africa’s approach to the taxation of the digital economy in light of international developments
title_full_unstemmed A review of South Africa’s approach to the taxation of the digital economy in light of international developments
title_short A review of South Africa’s approach to the taxation of the digital economy in light of international developments
title_sort review of south africa s approach to the taxation of the digital economy in light of international developments
topic UCTD
Digital economy
digital services
significant economic presence
unilateral measures
taxable nexus
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/80465