Direct taxation
Direct taxes are taxes which are imposed on individuals, trusts, deceased estates, companies and close corporations; all of whom are otherwise known as persons.
Income tax
South Africa has a progressive income taxation system which is based on the premise that the wealthy should contribute a greater proportion towards supporting the State than the poor. This means that the more a person earns the higher percentage tax they pay.[5]:2 By law all employers have to register all employees as taxpayers regardless of their tax liability.[3]
Income tax in South Africa was first introduced in 1914 with the introduction of the Income Tax Act No 28, an act that had its origins in the New South Wales Act of 1895. The act has gone through numerous amendments with the act presently in force is the Income Tax Act No 58 of 1962 which contains provisions for four different types of income tax.[5]:3 These four types of tax are:
- normal tax
- donations tax
- secondary tax on companies
- withholding tax
Normal tax
Normal tax in South Africa is a levy imposed on all persons in the form of an annual tax that is calculated by applying predetermined rates to a person's taxable income. This type of income tax can be divided into individual income tax and company income tax.
Individual income tax
Individual income tax (otherwise known as Personal income tax) rates in South Africa range from 18% (for income below R160 000 p.a) to 40% (for amounts over R617 000), although the tax threshold of R63 556 (for persons below age 65) means that anyone earning less than this amount pays no income tax.[6] Individuals earning less than R63,556(2013) a year do not need to declare their income and do not need to submit an income tax return so long as their remuneration is from a single employer, their remuneration is for the full tax year and no allowance was paid, from which PAYE was not deducted in full with regards to travel allowance.[7]
In 2012/13 there were a total of 13.7 million registered individual taxpayers. There were a total of 5.1 million assessed taxpayers in 2012/13 with total taxable income of R1 trillion, of that they were liable to pay R206.7 billion. 40.1% of assessed taxpayers were registered in Gauteng Province and 27.3% of them employed in finance, insurance, real estate, or the business service sector. 27.5% of them were aged 35 to 44 and 5.7% or 289,476 declared a business income.[1]
The 2012 tax year saw an increase in the threshold for the top Personal Income Tax bracket to R580,000. Other increases in tax thresholds include:[1]
- R59,750 for people below the age of 65.
- R93,150 for people aged between 65 to 75.
- R104,261 for people aged 75 and above.
In 2009 there were 3.5 million assessed taxpayers with a total taxable income of R632.6 billion, of that they were liable to pay R154.1 billion. Of them 28.8% were between 35 to 44 years old and 56.7% were male, 3.9% (136,124) of them had business income. Over 60% of taxable income came from salaries, wages and remuneration. Travel allowances were the largest allowance claim, the largest fringe benefit was medical aid paid on behalf of employees and contributions to retirement funds were the largest tax deductions. Although the number of tax payers has increased most taxpayers fall below the R63,556(2013) taxable income threshold and so are not required to submit an income tax return and are therefore not included in the 3.5 million assessed taxpayers.[8]:2
Company income tax
The company income tax rate is levied at 26.67%(According to the Company Law No. 71 of 2008) of the taxable income of the company. Certain companies qualifying as a small business corporation where tax is levied at 10% for taxable income above R 59,750 up to a limit of R 300,000 and 28% on taxable income above R 300,000. Employment companies pay a tax of 33%. Dividends were subject to an additional tax called the Secondary Tax on Companies which was 10% of declared dividends. This tax was replaced by Dividend Tax on 1 April 2012; however Secondary Tax on Companies credits can be used until 31 March 2015.[10]
In the 2009 tax year 34.2% of 473,034 companies in South Africa had taxable income. Of them 56.5% of the tax was paid by 222 large companies with a taxable income in excess of R200 million. Around 50% of the collectively assessed companies were from the finance, retail and wholesale trade sectors and were responsible for over 35% of this tax. The mining and quarrying sector -consisting of only 0.3% of the companies assessed- shrunk from 8.6% in 2006 to 5.7% in 2008 reflecting the declining importance of the mining sector to the South African economy.[8]:3
Donations tax
Tax on donations is linked to Estate Duty which was first introduced in South Africa in 1955. It is not a tax on income but rather on the transfer of wealth but differs from estate duty in that it specifically taxes gifts and donations as opposed to inheritance. This tax subjects certain donations made by persons to a flat rate of 20%.[5]:4
Dividends tax
Dividends Tax is a policy tax imposed by government with the aim of encouraging companies to retain profits instead of giving out dividends. It takes the form of a 15% tax on receipt of dividends given by companies and closed corporations. Some of the recent growth in this tax revenue for 2012/13 occurred due to increases in the value of taxable economic activities and higher compliance rates even though this tax rate remained the same.[1]
Prior to 1 April 2012 this tax was known as the Secondary Tax on Companies and took the form of a 10% tax on the net dividend distributed by companies and closed corporations.[1]
Withholding tax
Withholding tax, also called retention tax, is a government requirement for a South African payer of an item of income to a non-resident in South Africa to withhold or deduct tax from the payment, and pay that tax to the government. This tax can be divided into two categories:
- A withholding tax on royalties of 12% unless double taxation agreements apply.[5]:4
- A withholding tax on payments for fixed property which applies to any person who must pay a non-resident for immovable property in South Africa. This tax ranges between 5% to 10%.[5]:5
Estate duty
Estate duty is similar to donations tax in that it is a tax on the transfer of wealth. The duty is charged on the death of a person and is based on the value of the deceased's estate at the date of their death. It is 20% on the amount remaining in the deceased's estate over R3.5 million.[5]:7
Capital gains tax
First introduced on 1 October 2001, capital gains tax is effectively charged by adding a percentage of the increase in value of an asset, that was disposed of for more than its base cost, to the taxpayer's taxable income (see normal tax). For individuals, deceased estates and special trusts 33.3% of the net gain is added to their taxable income. For companies, close corporations and trusts 66.6% is added. Net capital losses in any given year cannot be used as a set-off against ordinary income; but can be carried forward to the following years to be used as a set-off against future capital gains.[11]
Indirect taxation
Indirect taxes are taxes which are levied on transactions rather than on persons (whether individuals or corporate).
Value Added Tax (VAT)
Value Added Tax (VAT)is a broad tax made by vendors on the supply of goods and services that is charged upon purchase. VAT must be paid irrespective of whether or not it is a capital good or trading stock so long as the vendor uses the goods in his/her enterprise. It was first introduced in South Africa in its current form on 29 September 1991 at a rate of 10%. Currently VAT is set at 14%.[5]:7 If given price on an item charged by a vendor does not mention VAT then that price is deemed to include VAT.[5]:635
In 2009/10 fiscal year about 72% of the 685,523 registered VAT vendors were active. Over 55% of VAT vendors had a turnover of less than R1 million.[8]:4
People who are not South African passport holders and are not resident in South Africa are eligible to claim back VAT on movable goods purchased in the country provided they present a tax invoice (such as a receipt) for those goods.[12]
Fuel levy
The fuel levy in South Africa represents a tax paid at the pump on fuel, predominantly processed fossils fuels like petrol and diesel. In 2011 this tax represented about 29.6% of the price of 93 octane petrol and 30.3% of the price of diesel.[13]
5% of the total fuel price paid at the pump in South Africa goes to the Road Accident Fund which is a state insurer that provides insurance cover to all drivers of motor vehicles in South Africa in respect of liability incurred or damage caused as a result of a traffic collision.[14]
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