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The Taxation Of South Africa

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(Alternative version to first line “Just as an egg will vary from hen to hen, so do tax systems from country to country.”)
As there are no two eggs that are identical, tax systems vary from country to country. Each country has its own rules and principles to levy taxes from its citizens and foreigners to whom it conducts business in order to support its operations. South Africa is no different. When a country’s own people conduct business, or foreigners invest or trade within its domestic jurisdiction, it is necessary for the tax system to balance carefully its domestic and international economic objectives. It is essential to understand how the taxation system is applied to residents and non-residents in order to maximize one’s own …show more content…

Income is taxed in the country where that income originates, irrespective of the legal or physical residence of the recipient. Even though South Africa Adopted the residence based system in 2011, many states will still tax the income derived by a person from commercial activities undertaken in their states. A source-based system of tax imposes a taxation liability on income arising within a specific jurisdiction or territory.
From the Appellate Division of Kerguelen Sealing & Whaling Co., Ltd v CIR ˡ, the fundamental logic of a residence based tax system has been contrasted to that of a source based system in the following: “In some countries residence (or domicile) is made the test of liability for the reason, presumably, that residents, for the privilege and protection of residence, can justly be called upon to contribute towards the cost of good order and government of the country that shelters him. In others (as in ours) the principle of liability adopted is ‘source of income’: again, presumably, the equity of the levy rests on the assumption that a country that produces wealth by reason of its natural resources or the activities of its inhabitants is entitled to a share of that wealth, wherever the recipients of it may be live. In both systems there is, of course, the assumption that the country adopting the one or the other has effective means to enforce the levy.”
For tax purposes, it is important to know how

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