VAT on foreign digital services in Mauritius; a comparative study with South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ambareen Beebeejaun
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Research Paper ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Legal Provisions ◽  
Digital Services ◽  
Compliance Requirements ◽  
The Government

Purpose Value added tax (VAT) is an indirect tax that is payable upon the consumption of goods and services. Recently, the Government of Mauritius has introduced a new set of rules to extend the VAT system to non-resident providers of electronic services to consumers based in Mauritius. The purpose of this research paper is therefore to assess the adequacy and efficiency of the recent VAT amendments in terms of compliance requirements and collection measures and to identify loopholes in the present legal provisions. Design/methodology/approach The methodologies for the research are in essence comprised of the black letter approach which will analyse the legal provisions relating to VAT in Mauritius. A comparative analysis will also be conducted to find out the corresponding legal provisions relating to VAT on digital services in South Africa. Findings This research paper has highlighted some recommendations inspired by the laws of South Africa and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Based Erosion Profiting Shifting action plan which may be of use to Mauritius stakeholders when devising regulations on the imposition of VAT on foreign suppliers of digital services under Section 14B of the VAT Act. Originality/value To the author's best knowledge, this research paper is the first study conducted in the field of indirect taxation of foreign suppliers of digital services to residents of Mauritius.

Government is unlikely to overhaul Poland’s tax regime

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Value Added ◽  
Disposable Income ◽  
Policy Preference ◽  
Corporate Taxes ◽  
Value Added Tax ◽  
Alternative Source ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Indirect Taxes ◽  
The Government

Significance This continues the policy preference -- out of line with Poland’s peers -- for indirect taxes on goods and services, including a relatively high value-added tax (VAT) rate. The government says the sugar tax aims to curb rising obesity, but critics suspect it is a new way of raising revenue. Impacts Corporate taxes could be raised as an alternative source of revenue. Left unaddressed, the regressive trend in taxes and rising inequality may create an opening for the leftist Spring and Together parties. If UK taxes rise post-pandemic, the relative fall in disposable income could encourage Polish immigrants to return to Poland.

Does tax policy fit in the portfolio of COVID-19 responses?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerrie Sadiq ◽  
Richard Krever
Keyword(s):  
Tax Policy ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Income Support ◽  
Policy Reforms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Tax Regimes ◽  
The Uk

Purpose Tax policymakers are currently navigating a path through a delicate dialectic of macro- and micro-level policy responses to the economic dislocation of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this paper is to examine initial tax measures that are aimed at helping taxpayers needing liquidity, solvency and income support. Design/methodology/approach This study undertakes a review of key tax policy responses of six jurisdictions across the globe that have similar tax regimes and virus mitigation strategies (albeit with different outcomes). Key initiatives implemented from February to April 2020 by Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa and the UK are examined. Findings This study indicates that tax concessions are a crude and mostly ineffective way of assisting individuals and enterprises in difficulty. In the longer term, if the crisis prompts desirable reforms such as extending the recognition of tax losses, the income tax system will emerge fairer and more efficient. Practical implications An investigation of the short-term reforms announced relating to asset write-offs, tax deferral, tax losses and goods and services tax/value-added tax rates in light of the liquidity, income support and stimulus objectives shows that in some cases the policies may have been misguided. The findings can be used by policymakers as the basis for designing better targeted alternative non-tax responses. Originality/value Jurisdictional responses to tax policy reforms during a modern period of significant economic dislocation have yet to be documented in the literature. Specifically, this paper highlights the limitations of tax policy initiatives as a response to financial hardship.

COVID-19, migration and inclusive cities through e-governance: strategies to manage asylum seekers in Durban, South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Kariuki ◽  
Maria Lauda Goyayi ◽  
Lizzy Oluwatoyin Ofusori
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Public Services ◽  
City Government ◽  
Information Communication ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Governance Strategies ◽  
The Government ◽  
The City

Purpose This paper aims to examine the role of electronic governance (e-governance) in enabling asylum seekers’ access to public services in the city of Durban, South Africa. Because of COVID-19, the government scaled down its operations, limiting access to public services, including among migrants. Design/methodology/approach Because of COVID-19-related restrictions, a systematic review was conducted of the relevant academic literature as well as the information portals of relevant government departments, municipalities and research reports on migration and refugees in South Africa. A total of 320 peer-reviewed research articles were identified. These were filtered and 68 relevant articles were selected. Findings The study found that asylum seekers have limited access to public services via information communication technology-enabled mechanisms. Whilst the city government has embraced e-governance, it is still in its nascent stages. Research limitations/implications This study was limited to a desktop one because of COVID-19 restrictions and it focused exclusively on asylum seekers. Therefore, its findings can only be generalised to this category of people. Practical implications Future studies on this subject should gather data from all categories of migrants to gain in-depth perspectives. Social implications All spheres of governance in South Africa should recognise asylum seekers as a constituency that deserves access to public services. E-governance can facilitate easier access to these services, and policies need to be aligned with this reality. Originality/value This study examined the efficacy of e-governance in enabling access to government services by asylum seekers during COVID-19. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no other study on this subject was conducted during this period.

scholarly journals An Insight Into the Value Added Tax System Detailing Its Origins, Impact, Provisions and Regulations With Reference to India

2004 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-29
Author(s):  
Tomy Kallarackal
Keyword(s):  
European Economic Community ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Tax Credit ◽  
Value Added Tax ◽  
Excise Duty ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
The World ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Government ◽  
Insight Into

The Value Added Tax was first introduced in France in 1954. It was the resultant effort of France and members of the European Economic Community (E.E.C) during the 1950s aimed at the simplification of commodity taxes. Currently more than 130 nations in the world have adopted the VAT system. In the last decade alone over 50 nations have introduced VAT. This includes implementation in China and most recently the addition of Australia to the list of VAT nations. The world over, VAT is payable on both goods and services as they constitute a part of the national GDR Excise duty and sales taxes are merged into the singularity of VAT. No tax is levied on exports with full input tax credit made available. The scheme of taxation adopted by most nations is very simple. The seller of goods and the service provider charge tax on sales, avail input tax credit and pay the difference as VAT to the goVernment treasury. The compliance system in VAT nations is also very simple. There is very less interface between the tax collector and the tax payer. However there are provisions for heavy penalization of VAT defaulters. VAT is administered nationally and is also levied on imports.  

scholarly journals Impact of Implementation of Goods and Service Tax on Indian Banking Sector

2018 ◽  
pp. 18-32
Author(s):  
Revathi R. ◽  
Madhushree ◽  
P. S. Aithal
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Banking Sector ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Tax System ◽  
Tax Rate ◽  
Bank Branches ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
The Government ◽  
One Year ◽  
The Impact

The banking sector is one of the biggest and revenue generating sector in our economy. Indiais a country with impressively splendid banks with sufficient capital and well-regulated rulesand regulations. One of the biggest transformations that the sector faced during this period isGST i.e., Goods and Service Tax, a new tax regime introduced in the midnight of 1 July2017. Now the new tax regime has become one year old and there are so many changeswhich happened in the banking sector during this one-year periods. Introduction of GST tothe banking sector was one the highly risky and challenging role for the government. GST isa replacement to the Value Added Tax (VAT) which was implied on goods and services. Themain purpose of studying the impact of implementation of GST is to avoid double taxationon goods and services. It is a self-regulated tax system with a simplifies tax regime whichreduces the multiplicity of tax. The purpose of this study is to know the challenges faced bythe Banking sector and its effects on the customers after the implementation of the GST.New tax regime made an incredible step by the abolish of centralized registration of thebanks. Now all the bank branches have to register under GST in each state for the smoothfunctioning. The tax rate has created an impression in the banking sector that the sector iscontributing much toward the economic growth of the country. Tax slabs is anotherimportant and critical thing discussed in this paper which has substantially increasedcompared to the old tax regime. Data for the study have been collected from secondary datasources such as journals, internet, and news articles. Using the ABCD qualitative analysistechnique, advantages, benefits, constraints, and disadvantages for both banks and thecustomers for payment of GST are identified.

scholarly journals Agro-industrialisation and financial intermediation in Nigeria

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 443-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ngozi Adeleye ◽  
Evans Osabuohien ◽  
Simplice Asongu
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Annual Data ◽  
Industrial Output ◽  
Industrial Growth ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Long Run ◽  
The Government

PurposeThe study aims to analyse the role of finance in the agro-industrialisation nexus in Nigeria using annual data on manufacturing value added, agricultural value added and volume of finance availed to the agricultural sector from 1981 to 2015.Design/methodology/approachTo establish the presence of a long-run relationship, the error correction model and bounds cointegration techniques are employed. Likewise, the model is augmented to test whether the associated relationship between industrial output and agricultural output depends on access to finance by farmers with the inclusion of an interaction term.FindingsSome salient contributions to the literature are as follows: agriculture and finance are strong and positive predictors of industrialisation in the long run; in the short run, past realisations of industrial output and finance have significant asymmetric effects on industrial output; the explanatory power of agriculture decreases with the growth of the financial system; and the long-run results validate the role of finance in the agro-industrialisation nexus.Originality/valueGiven these findings, achieving growth in the agricultural sector that will induce desired industrialisation should be prioritised by the government through agencies such as the central bank, financial intermediaries and other stakeholders with a view to making agricultural financing a major concern for sustainable domestic consumption and industrial growth.

The empirical reality of project management failures in the construction of social housing projects in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 417-435
Author(s):  
Christopher Amoah ◽  
Kahilu Kajimo-Shakantu ◽  
Tanya van Schalkwyk
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Project Management ◽  
Social Housing ◽  
Free State ◽  
Project Implementation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Project Deliverables ◽  
The Government ◽  
Project Objectives

Purpose The concept of government reconstruction development programme (RDP) social housing in South Africa was rolled out in 1994 after the African National Congress Government came to power when the apartheid rule was abolished. The main aim of the government was to enhance the lifestyles of the poor in society through the provision of houses that they could not afford in the open market. However, many concerns have been reported about the social housing project in terms of poor project implementation and the delivery of deliverables that do not befit the need of the end-users. This study aims to assess the flaws in the application of project management (PM) principles in the construction of these social houses. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative approach was adopted for the study by making use of closed- and open-ended questionnaires to collect data from 1,893 social housing inhabitants in Bloemfontein, Free State. Descriptive statistics and R programming language software were used to analyse the data collected. Findings The findings reveal that there was a profound failure in the application of PM principles in the construction of the social houses leading to the provision of deliverables that do not meet the needs of the beneficiaries. There are also poor project deliverables and lack of consultations that could have probably been prevented had proper PM systems been put in place by the government throughout the project lifecycle. This lack of proper PM philosophies has generated dissatisfaction among the beneficiaries leading to numerous complaints about the social housing programme. Research limitations/implications The survey was done in only RDP housing communities in Bloemfontein in the Free State Province of South Africa; however, the result may be applicable in other RDP housing programmes. Practical implications The empirical results indicate that the government has been providing houses with disregard to project objectives by not instituting an appropriate PM systems; hence, the main objective of providing befitting houses to the less privileged to enhance their living conditions has woefully failed, as the inhabitants do not see any improvement of their social standings after receiving the houses. This means the government might have wasted resources as a result of ineffective PM throughout the project implementation. Originality/value This study has identified PM flaws in the construction of the RDP houses, which have led to poor project deliverables. This study thus gives recommendations with regard to proper PM strategies for the implementation of the same or similar project in the future to achieve project objectives.

scholarly journals GST fraud prevention to ensure business sustainability: a Malaysian case study

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 245-265
Author(s):  
Zaleha Othman ◽  
Mohd Fareez Fahmy Nordin ◽  
Muhammad Sadiq
Keyword(s):  
Preventive Strategies ◽  
Sustainable Business ◽  
Fraud Prevention ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Prevention Model ◽  
The Government ◽  
Sustainable Income ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThis study provides in-depth explanation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) fraud prevention towards sustainability business.Design/methodology/approachThis study applies a qualitative research method, i.e. case study, to address the specific research objective.FindingsThe finding revealed a GST prevention model towards sustainable business. The finding shows that it is pertinent for the government to set preventive strategies in order to retain sustainable income for the government. Two essential dimensions emerged in the findings to support preventive strategies, namely macro- and micro-level measures.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study provide managers, investors and policymakers with evidence to what extent GST fraud could be minimize in order to safeguard government source of revenue and retain sustainable business in a country. As GST is an important source of revenue for the government, it is thus crucial to prevent fraud from occurring.Originality/valuePast studies have primarily focused on GST implementation from the perspective of service tax effectiveness and efficiency. However, this study examined the impact of GST fraud to determine measures that could ensure service tax sustainability using preventive strategies, in turn, introducing to the existing literature on indirect tax.

Strategic benchmarking of service pricing based on the value added

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 754-767 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Renato Trento ◽  
Timóteo Stüker ◽  
Giancarlo Medeiros Pereira ◽  
Miriam Borchardt ◽  
Cláudia V. Viegas
Keyword(s):  
Value Added ◽  
Spare Parts ◽  
Pricing Policy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Customer Expectations ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Case Research ◽  
Service Pricing ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
New Goods

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate opportunities to move benchmarking studies toward a strategic level. The authors benchmarked how service prices are defined based on the value added for the customer. Design/methodology/approach – A multi-case research investigated how manufacturers can increase their service revenues; how corporate reputation can be analyzed to enhance financial and market performance; how customer satisfaction and price acceptance are related; and how benchmark studies can move to a more strategic level based on a conjoint analysis of value and price. Findings – Price’s benchmarking studies must combine the customers’ value demands; the customer expectations associated to each value demand; the competitor prices; and the revenue alternatives that a supplier can explore (e.g. sale of new goods, services for new goods, services for non-new goods, and repair parts). The combination of these elements reveals several opportunities for revenue generation. This combination may also help to explain the existence of different prices for similar goods and services. The authors referred to this as a flexible pricing policy. Flexible pricing may help manufacturers maximize revenues, and win and maintain customers. Research limitations/implications – The following research questions are suggested for future studies: What other elements should be considered in strategic benchmarking studies? What other elements can influence a flexible pricing policy for goods, spare parts, and services? In what contexts can a flexible pricing policy be applied? How should flexible pricing practices be benchmarked? Practical implications – A strategic benchmarking study must first identify the customers’ value demands. It is then necessary to analyze customer expectations associated to each value demand. As shown, customers may have different expectations for the same product or service. Similar expectations must be grouped together in order to allow a well-structured benchmark. Originality/value – The authors’ findings suggest interesting points to be observed by the manufacturers who supply integrated solutions with a long life cycle.

Economic impact of data localization in five selected African countries

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 337-357
Author(s):  
Mona Farid Badran
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
General Equilibrium ◽  
Computable General Equilibrium ◽  
Research Paper ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

Purpose The purpose of this study is to quantify the impact of laws and regulations that govern the cross-border flow of data on the economies of five selected African countries, namely, Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, Kenya and Mauritius. Moreover, this study addresses the state of cloud computing in Africa. Finally, policy recommendations are provided in this respect. Design/methodology/approach To reach accurate finding the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) data was used, and then the computable general equilibrium (CGE) was computed to estimate the total cost on the economy. Using the three data regulations linkages indexes (DRLs), the increased administrative cost effect was analyzed on five to six major economic sectors in the target countries. This was followed by estimating the loss in sector-wide total factor productivity (TFP) (for the five to six shortlisted sectors). Using this data, the computable general equilibrium model (CGE) was computed, in order to estimate the economy-wide impact. Based on these findings, a set of recommendations were offered to the policy maker, reflecting the obtained results and conclusions and their implications on drafting data-related policies. Findings The obtained data indexes reveal that Mauritius is the country with the most laws and regulations governing the cross border flow of data, followed by South Africa Egypt to a lesser extent and finally Morocco and Kenya both showing an obvious lack of data regulations. The small value of the estimated elasticity of the selected countries compared to the value of the estimated elasticity in the EU-0.347 shows that the impact of data localization is less in the selected African countries than in the other set of EU countries examined in the research paper. This is because the former has smaller economies with fewer linkages to the global economy and are less reliant on sectors that are heavy users of data. Thus, the overall impact of data localization was not as profound on TFP as is the case in advanced economies. This research paper arrives at the conclusion that fighting the trend of data localization is crucial. In fact, data localization hinders the necessary and essential role of global trade in realizing economic development. Specifically, this is evident in the increase in production costs as reflected in the increase of the prices of goods, which would lead to a decline in incomes. Originality/value Global studies looked at the impact of data localization on the EU, as well as China, India, Korea and Vietnam, providing some data on Asia Pacific. However, no study has ever been conducted on the Middle East and Africa. This study aims to fill this gap. The approach of this study is to capture the extent of data localization mandates encoded in the laws of each of the selected five African countries showing how these mandates govern their cross-border data flow and, in turn, affect their economies. Furthermore, the policy recommendations section of this research paper makes a contribution to the existing literature.

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