Tag: Dividends
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Analysing tax exemption for dividends
Dividends are a valuable part of many shareholders’ income, but even though they are exempt from regular income tax, it does not mean that they are completely exempt from tax. A dividend can be defined as any local or foreign dividend paid by a resident company of South Africa or a foreign country, provided that the…
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Don’t suffer the tax consequences of waived debt
Many natural persons or trust shareholders in companies are confronted with the unintended tax consequences of owing an amount on a loan account to the company in which they hold those shares. These tax consequences specifically relate to the “deemed dividend” which arises on interest-free loans (related to so-called “debit loans” in companies). In many cases, there is no intention to ever repay the…
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Dividends tax returns
With effect from 1 April 2012, dividends tax was introduced to replace the then “secondary tax on companies” (or “STC”). The tax is currently levied at 20%. The dividends tax regime brought with it a requirement for dividends tax returns to be submitted periodically (if even no liability for dividends tax arose) and we wish…