Investigating a new wealth tax in South Africa: Lessons from international experience
In recent years, there has been an increasing focus on new sources of taxation, including wealth tax. In South Africa, two phenomena have driven the focus on wealth tax. Firstly, the need for additional tax revenue to fund an ongoing and growing budget deficit, exacerbated by a prolonged period of l...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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AOSIS
2018-04-01
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| Series: | Journal of Economic and Financial Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://jefjournal.org.za/index.php/jef/article/view/175 |
| _version_ | 1811272940604358656 |
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| author | Jackie Arendse Lilla Stack |
| author_facet | Jackie Arendse Lilla Stack |
| author_sort | Jackie Arendse |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In recent years, there has been an increasing focus on new sources of taxation, including wealth tax. In South Africa, two phenomena have driven the focus on wealth tax. Firstly, the need for additional tax revenue to fund an ongoing and growing budget deficit, exacerbated by a prolonged period of low economic growth, rising government debt and a very small base of individual taxpayers. Secondly, the fact that South Africa has one of the most unequal societies in the world. The dual demands of increased tax revenue and economic inequality have converged around wealth tax as a possible panacea to both problems. Although South Africa has a long history of wealth transfer tax in the form of estate duty and donations tax, there has never been a tax on the net wealth holdings of individuals during their lifetime. Internationally, numerous countries have used wealth tax in various forms, including inheritance tax, gift tax, recurrent wealth tax and non-recurrent wealth tax. This study examines some of the international experiences with these three categories of wealth tax, seeking lessons and experiences that can inform the debate around the viability of a new wealth tax in South Africa. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T22:49:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-55499754efdb4c76915ce98ce2bd6d75 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1995-7076 2312-2803 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T22:49:08Z |
| publishDate | 2018-04-01 |
| publisher | AOSIS |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Economic and Financial Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-55499754efdb4c76915ce98ce2bd6d752022-12-22T03:13:24ZengAOSISJournal of Economic and Financial Sciences1995-70762312-28032018-04-01111e1e1210.4102/jef.v11i1.175156Investigating a new wealth tax in South Africa: Lessons from international experienceJackie Arendse0Lilla Stack1Department of Accounting, Faculty of Commerce, Rhodes UniversityDepartment of Accounting, Faculty of Commerce, Rhodes UniversityIn recent years, there has been an increasing focus on new sources of taxation, including wealth tax. In South Africa, two phenomena have driven the focus on wealth tax. Firstly, the need for additional tax revenue to fund an ongoing and growing budget deficit, exacerbated by a prolonged period of low economic growth, rising government debt and a very small base of individual taxpayers. Secondly, the fact that South Africa has one of the most unequal societies in the world. The dual demands of increased tax revenue and economic inequality have converged around wealth tax as a possible panacea to both problems. Although South Africa has a long history of wealth transfer tax in the form of estate duty and donations tax, there has never been a tax on the net wealth holdings of individuals during their lifetime. Internationally, numerous countries have used wealth tax in various forms, including inheritance tax, gift tax, recurrent wealth tax and non-recurrent wealth tax. This study examines some of the international experiences with these three categories of wealth tax, seeking lessons and experiences that can inform the debate around the viability of a new wealth tax in South Africa.https://jefjournal.org.za/index.php/jef/article/view/175taxationwealth taxesinternational taxesindividual taxinequalitytax revenue |
| spellingShingle | Jackie Arendse Lilla Stack Investigating a new wealth tax in South Africa: Lessons from international experience Journal of Economic and Financial Sciences taxation wealth taxes international taxes individual tax inequality tax revenue |
| title | Investigating a new wealth tax in South Africa: Lessons from international experience |
| title_full | Investigating a new wealth tax in South Africa: Lessons from international experience |
| title_fullStr | Investigating a new wealth tax in South Africa: Lessons from international experience |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigating a new wealth tax in South Africa: Lessons from international experience |
| title_short | Investigating a new wealth tax in South Africa: Lessons from international experience |
| title_sort | investigating a new wealth tax in south africa lessons from international experience |
| topic | taxation wealth taxes international taxes individual tax inequality tax revenue |
| url | https://jefjournal.org.za/index.php/jef/article/view/175 |
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