The use of deferred prosecution agreements in tax diputes

Abstract

Global economic crime including tax evasion is on the rise, and the State capture crisis has exacerbated for South Africa. In response to these two factors, foreign jurisdictions have looked to alternatives to conventional prosecution to mitigate the impact of delays on law enforcement. An alternative to conventional prosecution that has been adopted is the use of deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs). DPAs are understood to be a contractual arrangement between the State and a company that is being investigated for future prosecution to postpone the prosecution subject to the conditions in the agreement. The main component of DPAs is that the offending company acknowledges guilt and consents to paying a fine and other penalties as well as cooperating with the State in ongoing or future investigations. There is extensive literature that explores the use of DPAs broadly but this dissertation seeks to explore the use of DPAs in the context of South African tax disputes.