Page 6 - SAIT Compendium 2016 Volume2

Foreword
I am proud to present the SAIT Compendium of Tax Legislation 2016 for publication. As a long-term participant within the tax landscape, I am fully aware of how important it is for practitioners (and for SARS of cials and others) to have a reliable set of readily available tax legislative material for daily use. It is not uncommon to see tax experts holding their annual collection of tax legislation to ensure the accuracy of their advice (much like former theologians who held their bibles from days of old).
The 2016 Compendium contains all of the latest versions of tax legislation (eg the Income Tax Act, the Value- Added Tax Act, the Tax Administration Act and the Securities Transfer Tax Act). These latest versions contain all proposed changes agreed to in 2015 – more speci cally changes contained in the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill and the Tax Administration Laws Amendment Bill, both passed by Parliament early in December 2015. These changes have been incorporated even though the Bills are still pending before the President for nal assent and signature. History has shown that Presidential signature and assent in respect of legislation has almost always been forthcoming once of cial parliamentary rati cation is complete.
During my tenure within National Treasury, almost all changes were made informally in consultation with the relevant tax committees before nal introduction of the Bills. However, changes are now beginning to occur more often after introduction of Bills in Parliament. For 2016, these changes mainly centre on retirement reform. In respect of 2015, the changes involved venture capital companies. All of these changes are included within the Compendium.
It is important to note that the 2016 Compendium seeks to ll an important gap left open by Government. Unbeknownst to many, Government does not of cially consolidate law on an annual basis. Hence, each Act represents the initial legislation plus a series of amendments. In the case of the Income Tax Act, the of cial law is the 1962 Act plus 53 years of amendments. (In the case of the Value-Added Tax, the of cial law is the 1991 Act plus 24 years of amendments.) A review of all these separate items of legislation for every issue simply becomes unmanageable. The Juta staff have accordingly provided this Compendium as a ‘consolidation’ for convenient and accurate use. Without this, each rm would have to undertake this arduous task themselves (resulting in multiple differing consolidations).
The 2016 SAIT Compendium of Tax Legislation again comes with various aids. In terms of the legislation itself, there is the ‘prelex’ and ‘pendex’ to highlight recent changes so that users are aware of what’s new, what the legislation looked like up to the recent change and what’s imminently pending. The Compendium has the added advantage of containing other ancillary tax materials. These ancillary materials include key SARS interpretations as well as case law summaries. The ancillary materials are critical for clari cation.
We hope and trust that you will nd the 2016 edition of the SAIT Compendium of Tax Legislation an important tool for everyday use. You can be assured that the documents contained herein are of the highest quality and possess the fullest accuracy.
Keith E Engel
Deputy CEO of the South African Institute of Tax Professionals December 2015
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