Developing place of activity rules for the South African value-added tax : a comparative research approach

Abstract

The globalisation of the world economy has led to a rapid increase in cross-border trade. The jurisdiction having taxing rights to a cross-border supply for Value-Added Tax (VAT) purposes is, however, not always clear. The South African VAT Act does not contain a standalone place of activity section, which many other countries do have. This could result in cross-border supplies involving South Africa being subject to either double taxation or double non-taxation. A standalone place of activity section was developed by the authors for the South African VAT Act by following a consultative process in terms of which South African VAT experts critiqued and commented on the proposed section, adding value to come up with a final proposed place of activity section for the South African VAT Act.