Newsletter 1/2004 15 March 2004

Dear members of the South African Fiscal Association (“SAFA”)

The purpose of this first newsletter for 2004 is to inform you about various matters relating to the activities of SAFA for 2004.

Evening seminars

1. As was the case in 2003, SAFA’s main activity for 2004 will be evening seminars (over and above the international IFA Congress reserved for members only, see paragraph 12). We plan for a minimum of three seminars each in Cape Town and Johannesburg. We are apprised of a number of international tax experts who will be visiting South Africa during the year and we intend to plan the seminars around these visitations in order that SAFA might benefit from their expertise.
2. The first seminar for 2004, however, has a more local flavour, see dates and venues below. We have arranged for senior counsel and await confirmation that a senior SARS representative will speak on “Where do we stand with tax avoidance in South Africa”. Much has happened on this front during the past year or so. SARS is policing structured finance deals and there are pending court cases on the matter. There is also the new section 76A (not in force yet) on reportable transactions as well as announcements in the Minister of Finance’s Budget speech on 18 February 2004 of further measures in this regard. When is a transaction to be regarded as a sham or a simulation? News from Australia on the matter is that promoters of tax avoidance schemes in Australia may soon face stiff fines under a proposed penalty regime as part of the government’s crackdown on tax avoidance.
2.1 Date:  12 May 2004
  Place: Johannesburg
KPMG Auditorium, 85 Empire Road, Parktown
  Time: 18h00 to 19h30
  Topic:  "Where do we stand with tax avoidance in South Africa"
  Speakers:  Adv Peter Solomon SC
SARS - to be announced
  Bookings:  teresa.smith@kpmg.co.za
  Cost: Members - No charge
Non-Members - see below
2.2 Date: 18 May 2004
  Place: Cape Town
PricewaterhouseCoopers
No 1 Waterhouse Place
Century City
  Time: 18h00 to 19h30
  Topic:  "Where do we stand with tax avoidance in South Africa"
  Speakers: Adv Peter Solomon SC
SARS - to be announced
  Bookings: jolandie.james@za.pwcglobal.com
  Cost: Members - No charge
Non-Members - see below
3. More detail will be provided regarding the speaker from SARS as we await confirmation of availability.
4. We encourage members to suggest topics for seminars and to make themselves available as speakers.
  Cost for attending seminars
5.

Last year we allowed non-members to attend the seminars at no charge. This unfortunately can no longer be permitted as it is unfair towards paying members. The cost for the seminar in May is therefore as follows:

Individual members- no charge
Corporate members- first four attendees, no charge, thereafter subject to availability of seats.
Students - no charge, subject to availability of seats
Non-members- R 400 per person

Booking procedure for Members

This remains unchanged, simply e-mail Jolandie James in Cape Town or Teresa Smith in Johannesburg as mentioned under the venue details.

Booking procedure for non-members

Bookings for non-members will only be confirmed once payment has been effected. There will be no refund for any cancellation one week prior to the seminar. Cheques must be deposited and cleared 10 days before the seminar. Alternatively, cash may be tendered and all deposits must be effected to the following account:

Account Name: South African Fiscal Association
Bank: Standard Bank of SA Limited
Branch: Sandton City Branch, Code 018105
Account No.: 021545375

Deposit slips with clear details regarding identity must be faxed to:

Johannesburg seminar: Teresa Smith : 011 647 5819
Cape Town seminar: Jolandie James : 021 529 3309

  Membership
6. Invoices for 2004 subscriptions will be sent out soon. Please settle your accounts as soon as possible as the IFA parent body requires their account to be settled by April 2004. Membership fees for 2004 will be R2,000.00 for corporate and R1,000.00 for individual members. The subscriptions for 2004 have not increased on the basis that we hope to grow the membership with the assistance of current members. Please visit the SAFA website at http://www.ifa-safa.org for information on the membership benefits.
7. We invite all non-members to enrol as members now in order to benefit from all SAFA’s activities for 2004.
  SAFA Annual General Meeting
8. It is planned to have the Annual General Meeting on the same day as the seminar in Johannesburg , namely, the 12th May 2004 at the same venue but at 17h00. It is planned to rotate future AG meetings between Johannesburg and Cape Town.
  Election of members of the executive committee
9. The Annual General Meeting on 12 May 2004 will provide members with the opportunity to elect members to the executive committee. We urge members to come forward and offer their services to SAFA. Procedural detail and notification will follow before the due date of the AGM.
  Advertising on SAFA’s website
10. More and more people are visiting SAFA’s website (http://www.ifa-safa.org/). We also plan to route all future correspondence with members via the website. Any firm interested in purchasing an advertising slot with hyperlinks to such firm’s own website via the SAFA website should contact Basil Newton. The SAFA website is an excellent place to advertise your taxation services. Note that the SAFA website is referred to on the SARS website under “LINKS”, consequently, advertisers will be exposed to a percentage of the traffic on SARS website. In addition, SAFA will be undertaking an international initiative with the IMF to provide information to inbound investors which will be routed through our website thereby creating an international exposure for sponsors. Lastly, by sponsoring the website you are contributing towards the building of SAFA’s activities, the South African tax system and ultimately promoting the best interests of members.

A special brochure with more detail on the cost and other implications of advertising on the website will be made available soon. We consider limiting the number of advertisers by allocating limited slots to each category of sponsor. For example, only two slots are allocated to legal firms, two slots to accounting firms and two to financial services, and so on. There will only be a total of ten slots and some of the slots are already taken so please contact Marius at the e-mail address below if you are interested in a slot for 2004.
  Scientific Committee - Tax Thesis Competition
11. The Scientific Committee is considering reviving the SAFA Tax Thesis Competition. This was a very successful competition aimed at identifying the best tax thesis countrywide at two levels; namely at Honours/HDip level, and also at a Masters/PhD level. It also involves a monetary award to each winner. In the past we have had sponsors for this particular purpose. If there are members interested in participating in the relevant subcommittee, in sponsorship, or even if you have some ideas on this subject, please communicate with Marius van Blerck at: marius.vanblerck@standardbank.co.za
  The 2004 IFA Congress
12. Last year about twelve SAFA members attended the IFA Congress in Sydney. This year the Congress will be in Vienna. For more information visit the SAFA website under “Forthcoming Events”.

In closing, please feel free to direct any query to Marius van Blerck (marius.vanblerck@standardbank.co.za), who will deal with it, direct it to the appropriate persons.
  Charl du Toit
President: SAFA