scholarly journals Customer Loyalty Programmes: The Loss To The Fiscus In South Africa

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Calvert Pidduck ◽  
Karen Odendaal

The 2013 Budget Speech presented by the South African Minister of Finance highlighted that the best way to generate resources is to grow the economy and increase the tax base. In investigating the possible broadening of the South African tax base, as well as improving revenue administration, there is evidence of a gap in the taxation of customer loyalty programmes. The complexity of identifying and administering the receipt of customer loyalty award credits for millions of individuals has led to the receipt of customer loyalty award credits not being taxed whilst the expenses related to these award credits are being deducted by businesses. In closing this gap, the South African Revenue Service may be able to increase the tax base and limit fiscal leakage. For this reason, any gaps in the taxation of receipts and accruals is of interest to any researcher, taxpayer and government interested in understanding where current administration of legislation may be failing. In this study, the authors consider the tax leakage from a legislative and administrative perspective as well as investigate possible solutions. The revenue authorities in South Africa are urged to make changes to the current tax administration in order to prevent inconsistencies in treatment and tax leakage without negatively impacting the essence of the customer loyalty programmes.

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 626-645
Author(s):  
Teresa Michelle Pidduck ◽  
Karen Odendaal ◽  
Michelle Kirsten ◽  
Lauren Anne Pleace ◽  
Kaylee De Winnaar

Purpose The South African Government needs to increase fiscal revenues to cater to increased government spending. This paper aims to argue that the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has an opportunity to tax the receipt of customer loyalty programme awards in the hands of customers, with little amendment to current tax legislation or administration. This provides the South African Government an opportunity to increase much needed tax revenue in spite of limited resources. Design/methodology/approach Five instrumental case studies were used and analysed from a financial reporting perspective to quantify customer loyalty points earned by customers. These can form a basis for deriving the potential benefits from the taxation of customer loyalty programmes in the retail industry. The multiple instrumental case studies used and the application of accounting guidance in International Financial Reporting Standards allow generalisations to be made to highlight the amount of customer loyalty awards granted and possible tax revenues forgone in just one sector of the South African economy. Findings Should the proposals for taxation of customer loyalty programmes be implemented, the fiscus would be able to collect over R 234.35m (US$16.91m) in tax revenue from only five companies providing customers with loyalty awards. This indicates that this proposal for taxation is critical for investigation by the South African Government, as it may aid in achieving revenue goals for South Africa. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature on taxation legislation within South Africa by proposing a model that may be used by the SARS to increase tax revenues to meet the Government’s needs.


Author(s):  
Liezel G Tredoux ◽  
Kathleen Van der Linde

Tax legislation traditionally distinguishes between returns on investment paid on equity and debt instruments. In the main, returns on debt instruments (interest payments) are deductible for the paying company, while distributions on equity instruments (dividends) are not. This difference in taxation can be exploited using hybrid instruments and often leads to a debt bias in investment patterns. South Africa, Australia and Canada have specific rules designed to prevent the circumvention of tax liability when company distributions are made in respect of hybrid instruments. In principle, Australia and Canada apply a more robust approach to prevent tax avoidance and also tend to include a wider range of transactions, as well as an unlimited time period in their regulation of the taxation of distributions on hybrid instruments. In addition to the anti-avoidance function, a strong incentive is created for taxpayers in Australia and Canada to invest in equity instruments as opposed to debt. This article suggests that South Africa should align certain principles in its specific rules regulating hybrid instruments with those in Australia and Canada to ensure optimal functionality of the South African tax legislation. The strengthening of domestic tax law will protect the South African tax base against base erosion and profit shifting through the use of hybrid instruments.


2021 ◽  
Vol 138 (4) ◽  
pp. 799-817
Author(s):  
Carika Fritz ◽  
Thabo Legwaila

When a debtor’s estate is sequestrated or an insolvent company is wound up, insolvency and taxation intersect whenever the debtor or company has an outstanding tax debt. This article considers whether the South African Revenue Service should, or could, be provided with a better standing in cases of insolvency. From a comparison of the situations in South Africa, Mauritius, Australia and the United Kingdom, it is clear that South Africa’s approach of determining the order of distribution in relation to tax claims based on the type of tax is in line with the approaches of Mauritius and the United Kingdom. However, s 179 of the Tax Administration Act and ss 114 and 147(1) of the Customs and Excise Act may have an impact on a claim by the South African Revenue Service in the event of insolvency. In this respect, we argue that, in instances where a taxpayer is sequestrated or wound up due to insolvency, the Insolvency Act and the Companies Act should take precedence. Since the Insolvency Act provides for a clear order of distribution both in respect of the insolvent estates of natural persons and when an insolvent company is wound up, tax legislation in South Africa should not be used to deviate from this order of distribution.


2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andre Mangu

After several decades of apartheid rule, which denied human rights to the majority of the population on the ground of race and came to be regarded as a crime against humanity, South Africa adopted its first democratic Constitution in the early 1990s. The 1996 Constitution, which succeeded the 1993 interim Constitution, is considered one of the most progressive in the world. In its founding provisions, it states that South Africa is a democratic state founded on human dignity, the achievement of equality, the advancement of human rights and freedoms. The Constitution enshrines fundamental human rights in a justiciable Bill of Rights as a cornerstone of democracy. Unfortunately, in the eyes of a number of politicians, officials and lay-persons, the rights in the Bill of Rights accrue to South African citizens only. Xenophobia, which has been rampant since the end of apartheid, seems to support the idea that foreigners should not enjoy these rights. Foreign nationals have often been accused of posing a threat to South African citizens with regard to employment opportunities. In light of the South African legislation and jurisprudence, this article affirms the position of the South African labour law that foreign nationals are indeed protected by the Constitution and entitled to rights in the Bill of Rights, including the rights to work and fair labour practices.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mokoko Piet Sebola ◽  
Malemela Angelinah Mamabolo

The purpose of this article is to evaluate the engagement of farm beneficiaries in South Africa in the governance of restituted farms through communal property associations. The South African government has already spent millions of rands on land restitution to correct the imbalance of the past with regard to farm ownership by the African communities. Various methods of farm management to benefit the African society have been proposed, however, with little recorded success. This article argues that the South African post-apartheid government was so overwhelmed by political victory in 1994 that they introduced ambitious land reform policies that were based on ideal thinking rather than on a pragmatic approach to the South African situation. We used qualitative research methods to argue that the engagement of farm beneficiaries in farm management and governance through communal property associations is failing dismally. We conclude that a revisit of the communal property associations model is required in order to strengthen the position of beneficiaries and promote access to land by African communities for future benefit.


2020 ◽  
Vol 72 (1-3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lungisani Moyo

ABSTRACT This paper used qualitative methodology to explore the South African government communication and land expropriation without compensation and its effects on food security using Alice town located in the Eastern Cape Province South Africa as its case study. This was done to allow the participants to give their perceptions on the role of government communication on land expropriation without compensation and its effects on South African food security. In this paper, a total population of 30 comprising of 26 small scale farmers in rural Alice and 4 employees from the Department of Agriculture (Alice), Eastern Cape, South Africa were interviewed to get their perception and views on government communications and land expropriation without compensation and its effects on South African food security. The findings of this paper revealed that the agricultural sector plays a vital role in the South African economy hence there is a great need to speed up transformation in the sector.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 117
Author(s):  
Jared McDonald

Dr Jared McDonald, of the Department of History at the University of the Free State (UFS) in South Africa, reviews As by fire: the end of the South African university, written by former UFS vice-chancellor Jonathan Jansen.    How to cite this book review: MCDONALD, Jared. Book review: Jansen, J. 2017. As by Fire: The End of the South African University. Cape Town: Tafelberg.. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in the South, [S.l.], v. 1, n. 1, p. 117-119, Sep. 2017. Available at: <http://sotl-south-journal.net/?journal=sotls&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=18>. Date accessed: 12 Sep. 2017.   This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/


1995 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-304
Author(s):  
Willem A. M. Botes ◽  
J. F. Kapp

Field dilution studies were conducted on three “deep” water marine outfalls located along the South African coast to establish the comparibility of actual achievable initial dilutions against the theoretical predicted values and, where appropriate, to make recommendations regarding the applicability of the different prediction techniques in the design of future outfalls. The physical processes along the 3000 km long coastline of South Africa are diverse, ranging from dynamic sub-tropical waters on the east coast to cold, stratified stagnant conditions on the west coast. Fourteen existing offshore marine outfalls serve medium to large industries and various local authorities (domestic effluent). For this investigation three outfalls were selected to represent the range of outfall types as well as the diversity of the physical conditions of the South African coastline. The predicted dilutions, using various approaches, compared well with the measured dilutions. It was found that the application of more “simple” prediction techniques (using average current velocities and ambient densities) may be more practical, ensuring a conservative approach, in pre-feasibility studies, compared to the more detailed prediction models, which uses accurate field data (stratification and current profiles), when extensive field data is not readily available.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neven Chetty ◽  
Bamise Adeleye ◽  
Abiola Olawale Ilori

BACKGROUND The impact of climate temperature on the counts (number of positive COVID-19 cases reported), recovery, and death rates of COVID-19 cases in South Africa's nine provinces was investigated. The data for confirmed cases of COVID-19 were collected for March 25 and June 30, 2020 (14 weeks) from South Africa's Government COVID-19 online resource, while the daily provincial climate temperatures were collected from the website of the South African Weather Service. Our result indicates that a higher or lower climate temperature does not prevent or delay the spread and death rates but shows significant positive impacts on the recovery rates of COVID-19 patients. Thus, it indicates that the climate temperature is unlikely to impose a strict limit on the spread of COVID-19. There is no correlation between the cases and death rates, an indicator that no particular temperature range is closely associated with a faster or slower death rate of COVID-19 patients. As evidence from our study, a warm climate temperature can only increase the recovery rate of COVID-19 patients, ultimately impacting the death and active case rates and freeing up resources quicker to enable health facilities to deal with those patients' climbing rates who need treatment. OBJECTIVE This study aims to investigate the impact of climate temperature variation on the counts, recovery, and death rates of COVID-19 cases in all South Africa's provinces. The findings were compared with those of countries with comparable climate temperature values. METHODS The data for confirmed cases of COVID-19 were collected for March 25 and June 30 (14 weeks) for South African provinces, including daily counts, death, and recovery rates. The dates were grouped into two, wherein weeks 1-5 represent the periods of total lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19 in South Africa. Weeks 6-14 are periods where the lockdown was eased to various levels 4 and 3. The daily information of COVID-19 count, death, and recovery was obtained from South Africa's Government COVID-19 online resource (https://sacoronavirus.co.za). Daily provincial climate temperatures were collected from the website of the South African Weather Service (https://www.weathersa.co.za). The provinces of South Africa are Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Northern Cape, Limpopo, Northwest, Mpumalanga, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, and Gauteng. Weekly consideration was given to the daily climate temperature (average minimum and maximum). The recorded values were considered, respectively, to be in the ratio of death-to-count (D/C) and recovery-to-count (R/C). Descriptive statistics were performed for all the data collected for this study. The analyses were performed using the Person’s bivariate correlation to analyze the association between climate temperature, death-to-count, and recovery-to-count ratios of COVID-19. RESULTS The results showed that higher climate temperatures aren't essential to avoid the COVID-19 from being spread. The present results conform to the reports that suggested that COVID-19 is unlike the seasonal flu, which does dissipate as the climate temperature rises [17]. Accordingly, the ratio of counts and death-to-count cannot be concluded to be influenced by variations in the climate temperatures within the study areas. CONCLUSIONS The study investigates the impact of climate temperature on the counts, recovery, and death rates of COVID-19 cases in all South Africa's provinces. The findings were compared with those of countries with comparable climate temperatures as South Africa. Our result indicates that a higher or lower climate temperature does not prevent or delay the spread and death rates but shows significant positive impacts on the recovery rates of COVID-19 patients. Warm climate temperatures seem not to restrict the spread of the COVID-19 as the count rate was substantial at every climate temperatures. Thus, it indicates that the climate temperature is unlikely to impose a strict limit on the spread of COVID-19. There is no correlation between the cases and death rates, an indicator that there is no particular temperature range of the climatic conditions closely associated with a faster or slower death rate of COVID-19 patients. However, other shortcomings in this study's process should not be ignored. Some other factors may have contributed to recovery rates, such as the South African government's timely intervention to announce a national lockout at the early stage of the outbreak, the availability of intensive medical care, and social distancing effects. Nevertheless, this study shows that a warm climate temperature can only help COVID-19 patients recover more quickly, thereby having huge impacts on the death and active case rates.


Author(s):  
Christopher Ballantine

Christopher Ballantine’s focus is on timbre, in particular the timbre of the singing voice, and how this combines with the imagination to create meaning. His investigation is largely philosophical; but the growth in popularity of opera in post-apartheid South Africa provides empirical means for Ballantine to indicate this powerful but analytically neglected way of creating meaning in the performance of music. His case study shows how timbre can produce musical experiences that have a particular, and often surprising, resonance. Through interviews with leading figures in South African opera, Ballantine demonstrates that timbre is a vital wellspring of imagined meaning; it should especially be seen thus if we seek to understand the singing voice in a sociopolitical context such as that of South Africa during and after apartheid.


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