"Place of effective management" - a South Africa perspective

Abstract

The comments submitted by The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (hereinafter referred to as “SAICA”) to the Discussion Paper issued by the South African Revenue Service (hereinafter referred to as “SARS”) in respect of Interpretation Note 61, included the following important introductory comments: “We heartily welcome and endorse the revised approach, which brings the South African interpretation closer to international norm. South Africa is too small an economy in the world to be out of step with the general consensus view, including the views of our main treaty partners (who are mainly OECD members). It also reduces the prospect of having to resort to a mutual agreement procedure; not to mention reducing the likelihood of litigation in the South African courts.” South Africa‟s approach to the determination of a legal person‟s “place of effective management” (hereinafter referred to as “POEM”) differs from the international approach and has resulted not only in adverse tax implications, but also in a lot of uncertainty for various taxpayers.