Tax simplification - An African Perspective
Edited by Chris Evans, Riël Franzsen, Elizabeth (Lilla) Stack
2019
ISBN: 978-1-920538-96-5
Pages: 347
Print version: Available
Electronic version: Free PDF available
About the publication
Why are tax systems so complex and what are the causes and consequences of such complexity? The simplification of tax systems is one of the most important issues faced today in worldwide efforts to modernise and strengthen government finance and revenue raising capacities. Nowhere is it more important than throughout the rapidly emerging economies of the dynamic African region.
This volume brings together contributions in this field from a conference held in South Africa in October 2018 and provides a unique synthesis of knowledge and understanding gained from the specialist expertise and diverse backgrounds brought to the tax simplification debate by those authors.Featured topics include:
- Taxpayers’ rights to simplicity
- The African experience of tax simplification
- Simplification trends among small and medium sized entities
- Pension tax simplification
- Sources of complexity in value added taxation
- Simplification of recurrent property taxes
- Complexity and approaches to international taxation
- Complexity and taxation of multinational enterprises
- Lessons from overseas.
The analysis of these topics includes timely and relevant perspectives from the experience in other jurisdictions including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The volume will be an essential reference for researchers and others interested in the field from academia, government, legal and accounting practice and public policy organisations in African and other countries worldwide.Table of Contents
Preface
Foreword – Tax Simplification in the United Kingdom: Some Personal Reflections
John Whiting
Contributors
- Introduction
Elizabeth (Lilla) Stack, Chris Evans and Riël Franzsen - Tax Complexity and Tax Simplification: A Critical Review of Concepts and Issues
Binh Tran-Nam, Annet Wanyana Oguttu and Kyle Mandy - The Taxpayers’ Right to Tax Simplicity in South Africa and the United States
Carika Fritz and Nina E Olson - The Role of the Office of Tax Simplification in the United Kingdom and Lessons for Other Countries
Yige Zu and Lynne Oats - An Analysis of the Tax Simplification Initiatives for Pension Provision in the United Kingdom and South Africa
Bernadene de Clercq, Andy Lymer and Chris Axelson - Simplification Lessons from New Zealand
Adrian Sawyer, Marina Bornman and Greg Smith - Legal Uncertainty in the South African VAT
Marius van Oordt and Richard Krever - Simplifying Recurrent Property Taxes in Africa
Riël Franzsen, Abdallah Ali-Nakyea and Adams Tommy - Statutory and Effective Complexity for Individual Taxpayers in South Africa
Sharon Smulders, Karen Stark and Deborah Tickle - Small and Micro Businesses: Case Studies on the Complexity of ‘Simplified’ Schemes
Heinrich Dixon, Judith Freedman and Wollela Abehodie Yesegat - Tax Complexity for Multinational Corporations in South Africa – Evidence from a Global Survey
Thomas Hoppe, Reyhaneh Safaei, Amanda Singleton and Caren Sureth-Sloane - International Tax Simplification in South Africa through Managing Substantive Complexity and Improving Drafting Efficiency
Jinyan Li and Teresa Pidduck
Bibliography
Index