“Personal service” and “Professional service” : the rigid application of turnover tax and small business corporation legislation

Abstract

According to the National Treasury’s Explanatory Memorandum on the Revenue Laws Amendment Bill, 2008, South Africa’s Small, Micro and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs) play a crucial role in the country’s economic development since they help to combat poverty and create jobs. But according to research, SMMEs have a lot of challenges, that include complying with tax obligations. To make the process of filing taxes simpler for SMMEs, it was suggested in the 2008 Budget Review to introduce a Turnover tax system for SMMEs with an annual turnover of up to R1 million. Similar to this, section 12E was introduced to further assist SMMEs by providing them with income tax relief to SMMEs. Section 12E(4)(a)(iii) and (d) and paragraph 3(b) of the Sixth Schedule exclude certain types of businesses from making use of these tax incentives. This mini dissertation analyses the criteria that determines which SMMEs are to be excluded from the ambit of these tax incentives, the consequences of such criteria, and explores foreign law for possible solutions.