,
,UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH
AFRICA NOTES ON
FUNDAMENTALS OF
SOUTH AFRICA INCOME
TAX
1.1. ORIGINS OF FUNDAMENTALS
This is the 10th edition of Fundamentals of South African Income Tax (Fundamentals). The book originally
grew out of the recognition of the need for a textbook aimed specifically at foundational tax knowledge. At
this foundational level it would be more appropriate to remove some of the complexity of the tax
legislation
and provide users with a basic understanding of the mechanics of the core tax computations. Once users
establish a base of tax knowledge they will be better prepared to utilise the full-version “Notes on South
African Income Tax” in more advanced tax courses.
1.2. SOURCE MATERIAL
While attempting to remain true to the source material, drawn largely from Notes on South African Income
Tax, much of the complexity in the selected topics has been removed and the structure is less traditional
than in the full version. Fundamentals continues to develop over time as legislation changes and as the
curricula of the foundational tax courses that this book serves develop.
1.3. THE APPROACH OF THIS BOOK
Our experience has been that when students are immediately confronted with large volumes of detailed tax
theory, they struggle to understand how the theory fits into the end goal of preparing a tax computation. The
approach to this book is to develop a foundation of simple application upon which the complexities of
taxation can be built at a later stage. The approach is predominantly practical rather than theoretical. Our
hope is that after working through this book students will be able to deal with the basic tax returns of a
variety of taxpayers and will then be ready to progress to the theoretical concepts underpinning the system of
taxation in South Africa.
The book begins with the concept of the individual employee as a taxpayer. It is anticipated that this
represents the most likely first exposure students may have to tax. Here we also cover the limited deductions
available to employees.
The next few chapters expand the scope of sources of income to include the operating of a business and the
earning of investment income with their associated tax implications. This also creates the opportunity to make
the transition to companies as taxpayers. At this stage we introduce the concepts of exempt income and specific
deductions.
Once the major taxpayers and their sources of income have been established, we begin to explore capital
allowances and capital gains tax. These concepts are sufficiently demanding to require their own chapters,
although, once again, the focus is on developing a basic understanding of the core principles. The book
concludes with chapters on specific topics appropriate in a foundational tax course.
, This book has been based on taxpayers with 2020 years of assessment. Amendments pertaining to 2021
years of assessment are therefore not fully considered in this edition.
We welcome comments as to the effectiveness of this book as a teaching resource and other feedback.
,UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH
AFRICA NOTES ON
FUNDAMENTALS OF
SOUTH AFRICA INCOME
TAX
1.1. ORIGINS OF FUNDAMENTALS
This is the 10th edition of Fundamentals of South African Income Tax (Fundamentals). The book originally
grew out of the recognition of the need for a textbook aimed specifically at foundational tax knowledge. At
this foundational level it would be more appropriate to remove some of the complexity of the tax
legislation
and provide users with a basic understanding of the mechanics of the core tax computations. Once users
establish a base of tax knowledge they will be better prepared to utilise the full-version “Notes on South
African Income Tax” in more advanced tax courses.
1.2. SOURCE MATERIAL
While attempting to remain true to the source material, drawn largely from Notes on South African Income
Tax, much of the complexity in the selected topics has been removed and the structure is less traditional
than in the full version. Fundamentals continues to develop over time as legislation changes and as the
curricula of the foundational tax courses that this book serves develop.
1.3. THE APPROACH OF THIS BOOK
Our experience has been that when students are immediately confronted with large volumes of detailed tax
theory, they struggle to understand how the theory fits into the end goal of preparing a tax computation. The
approach to this book is to develop a foundation of simple application upon which the complexities of
taxation can be built at a later stage. The approach is predominantly practical rather than theoretical. Our
hope is that after working through this book students will be able to deal with the basic tax returns of a
variety of taxpayers and will then be ready to progress to the theoretical concepts underpinning the system of
taxation in South Africa.
The book begins with the concept of the individual employee as a taxpayer. It is anticipated that this
represents the most likely first exposure students may have to tax. Here we also cover the limited deductions
available to employees.
The next few chapters expand the scope of sources of income to include the operating of a business and the
earning of investment income with their associated tax implications. This also creates the opportunity to make
the transition to companies as taxpayers. At this stage we introduce the concepts of exempt income and specific
deductions.
Once the major taxpayers and their sources of income have been established, we begin to explore capital
allowances and capital gains tax. These concepts are sufficiently demanding to require their own chapters,
although, once again, the focus is on developing a basic understanding of the core principles. The book
concludes with chapters on specific topics appropriate in a foundational tax course.
, This book has been based on taxpayers with 2020 years of assessment. Amendments pertaining to 2021
years of assessment are therefore not fully considered in this edition.
We welcome comments as to the effectiveness of this book as a teaching resource and other feedback.
