Translation of transfer pricing adjustments in South Africa: A seemingly insignificant detail

by | Mar 10, 2024 | SAMLJ, SAMLJ V35 I2

Translation of transfer pricing adjustments in South Africa: A seemingly insignificant detail

Author: Michelle van Heerden

ISSN: 1996-2185
Affiliations: Senior Lecturer, Department of Accountancy, University of Johannesburg
Source: South African Mercantile Law Journal, Volume 35 Issue 2, 2023, p. 190 – 212
https://doi.org/10.47348/SAMLJ/v35/i2a4

Abstract

The South African rand is one of the most volatile currencies in the world — at times the most volatile. To this is added a further area of uncertainty, namely the tax implications relating to transfer pricing. Section 31 of the South African Income Tax Act does not have any specific foreign currency translation rules. The general rule in s 25D of the Income Tax Act is therefore applicable, which provides for the translation of foreign currency to rand using the spot rate. However, given the nature of transfer pricing transactions, it raises the question whether the spot rate is indeed appropriate. The purpose of the study was to investigate South Africa’s translation rules and to seek guidance from an international perspective. The research design was non-empirical, adopting an interpretative paradigm, together with a doctrinal research methodology. The conclusion of this study is that the translation rules concerning transfer pricing adjustments have seemingly been overlooked. The study recommends a legislative amendment of s 31 and proposes that transfer pricing adjustments are converted using the average rate of exchange for the year of assessment to which the adjustments relate, as such an amendment will lead to certainty, equity and convenience.

South African governance legal framework for corporate disclosures and reporting: Part 2—Mandatory financial disclosure and reporting

by | Mar 10, 2024 | SAMLJ, SAMLJ V35 I2

South African governance legal framework for corporate disclosures and reporting: Part 2—Mandatory financial disclosure and reporting

Author: Werner Schoeman

ISSN: 1996-2185
Affiliations: Lecturer, Mercantile and Labour Law Department, University of Limpopo
Source: South African Mercantile Law Journal, Volume 35 Issue 2, 2023, p. 213 – 231
https://doi.org/10.47348/SAMLJ/v35/i2a5

Abstract

In this second part of this article, I focus on the efficacy of the framework for mandatory financial disclosure and reporting. In particular, I investigate the governance of auditors within the corporate jurisprudence. Independence of auditors remains contentious in the light of the funding model of the regulator, functioning of audit committees and the connection between directors and companies.

Case Notes: Is the foreign business establishment lagging behind new business models? Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service v Coronation Investment Management SA (Pty) Ltd [2023] ZASCA 10

by | Mar 10, 2024 | SAMLJ, SAMLJ V35 I2, Uncategorized

Case Notes: Is the foreign business establishment lagging behind new business models? Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service v Coronation Investment Management SA (Pty) Ltd [2023] ZASCA 10

Author: Khodani Sengwane

ISSN: 1996-2185
Affiliations: Lecturer, University of Pretoria
Source: South African Mercantile Law Journal, Volume 35 Issue 2, 2023, p. 232 – 240
https://doi.org/10.47348/SAMLJ/v35/i2a6

Abstract

None

The Historical Application of Command Responsibility as Basis for Prosecuting Sexual Violence Crimes Under International Criminal Law: The Post-World War II Criminal Tribunals to Rome

by | Mar 4, 2024 | FUND, FUND V29I2

The Historical Application of Command Responsibility as Basis for Prosecuting Sexual Violence Crimes Under International Criminal Law: The Post-World War II Criminal Tribunals to Rome

Author Brenda Akia

ISSN: 2411-7870
Affiliations: LLB (Makere) LLM (Humboldt/UWC) LLD (Pret). Member of the UN CEDAW Committee
Source: Fundamina, Volume 29 Issue 2, p. 1-32
https://doi.org/10.47348/FUND/v29/i2a1

Abstract

The principle of command responsibility places a legal obligation on military commanders or civilian superiors to take reasonable and necessary steps to prevent and suppress commission of crimes, including sexual violence crimes by persons under their command, or to report to competent authorities if the crimes are committed. This contribution provides a historical analysis of the evolution of the codification and adjudication of command responsibility and its application to prosecute sexual violence crimes under international criminal law. Examining this historical evolution aims to provide legal practitioners with a clear understanding of how the doctrine of command responsibility found its way into contemporary international criminal law treaties, such as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. This will assist legal practitioners to successfully apply command responsibility to prosecute sexual violence crimes and to better understand the interplay between international criminal law and international humanitarian law.

“Under the Whip” or Marital Violence, Cruelty and Drunkenness: Defining the Boundaries of Judicially Intolerable Marital Behaviour in the Cape Supreme Court, 1890–1900

by | Mar 4, 2024 | FUND, FUND V29I2

“Under the Whip” or Marital Violence, Cruelty and Drunkenness: Defining the Boundaries of Judicially Intolerable Marital Behaviour in the Cape Supreme Court, 1890–1900

Author Amanda Barratt

ISSN: 2411-7870
Affiliations: BA(Hons) (UCT) LLB LLM (Unisa) PhD (UCT). Associate Professor, Private Law, University of Cape Town
Source: Fundamina, Volume 29 Issue 2, p. 33-84
https://doi.org/10.47348/FUND/v29/i2a2

Abstract

This contribution explores marital violence in the Cape during the last decade of the nineteenth century. It is based on a comprehensive review of 587 matrimonial cases heard in the Cape Supreme Court over a ten-year period from January 1891 to December 1900. The study shows that marital violence had occurred in almost one quarter of the matrimonial suits finalised during that decade. The contribution explores the judicial response to violence within marriage. The optimal protection available to an abused wife was a judicial separation order. Such an order was available where continued cohabitation had become dangerous or “intolerable”. The research explores the kinds of marital behaviour deemed to be sufficiently intolerable to justify a separation order. While the Cape Supreme Court did not always provide abused wives with the protection of a separation order, the court nevertheless expressed firm disapproval of physical abuse. It viewed continual drunkenness as intolerable behaviour, and also regarded both emotional and economic abuse as reprehensible. The contribution also takes a look at the community’s response to interspousal violence and at the prevailing societal views of appropriate behaviour for husbands and wives. The study further investigates the development of the companionate marriage as a partnership of equals. It shows that, by the late nineteenth century, wives were demanding more control within the marital consortium and further that contemporary societal expectations determined that marriages should be romantic relationships based on mutual affection. Law plays an important part in both reflecting and shaping social attitudes. The court rulings helped to shape the law by establishing the legal boundaries of so-called acceptable marital behaviour. These cases reveal the law’s role in shaping acceptable behaviour for husbands and wives respectively, reflecting and reinforcing gendered marital roles.