On 21 July 2019, National Treasury (NT) and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) published the 2019 Draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill (Draft TLAB) and the 2019 Draft Tax Administration Laws Amendment Bill (Draft TALAB), for public comment. According to the media statement accompanying the publication of the bills (Media Statement), the Draft TLAB and the Draft TALAB provide the necessary legislative amendments required to implement more complex tax announcements made in Chapter 4 and Annexure C of the 2019 Budget Review. We discuss some of the major amendments here:
Income Tax: Individuals, Savings and Employment:
1. Extending the scope of amounts constituting variable remuneration: Currently, section 7B Income Tax Act, 1962 (the "Act") provides for certain remuneration amounts to be deemed to accrue when the employee is actually paid. It is proposed that the current wording of the provision be changed from applying to specific payments to apply to amounts bearing the following generic characteristics:
- the employee is only entitled to the amount once services have been rendered;
- the amount that the employee is entitled to cannot be determined in advance;
- the identity of the employee entitled to payment of the amount cannot be determined in advance;
- the amount is payable only after the employer's approval;
