The impact of competition law remedies on the taxation process in South Africa

Abstract

Combating the effects of the global recession that hampered the economies of various nations has been endeavoured by many governments since 2008. The South African government’s stand to do this shows that it is possible to return the economy back to its glory days, however, the duration of this process of overturning the same is unknown. The government has raised policies and programs, one of which being the New Growth Path (NGP) to combat these effect. This programme, inter alia, calls for increased government expenditure to facilitate job creation through infrastructure development. It is trite economic principles that government expenditure has to be balanced with its revenue collection, otherwise it might lead to budget deficit. Prolonged budget deficit, naturally, is not ideal for a nation’s economy as the same increases government borrowing, results in higher taxes, and affects inflation. While government revenue is mostly financed through taxes, studies show that increasing taxes is also to the detriment for the economy. Therefore, there is a need for disenable policy stand to be taken in respect of the government’s programme, as well as the generation of revenue to support the same. In this regard, one of the ways being advanced by this research in respect of a better combating the recession is to utilise economic legislations enacted in the country. Amongst other economic legislations in South Africa this paper discusses Income Tax Act (SA ITA) (which regulate the persons to pay income taxes) and Competition Act (which regulate fair competition). The focus of this dissertation revolves around the impact competition law remedies have on the income taxation process. The aim of the research is to analyse the possible loopholes in the current legislation that might hamper a government revenue generation to support its new growth path. This was met through an extensive study of relevant literature in competition and income tax laws in South Africa and also comparative analysis with relevant laws of the United States of America (USA). The main conclusion drawn from this research is that there is an impact of the current competition law remedies on the income taxation process. This research promotes and argues for a change in approach, through government enactment of clear and certain laws both in the field of competition law and tax law. This change would assist government in raising revenue more effectively and achieve it economic growth path and, in turn, combat the global economic crisis that affected the economy.