Section 6 (ITA) – Normal tax rebates

6.     Normal tax rebates

(1)     In determining the normal tax payable by any natural person, other than normal tax in respect of any retirement fund lump sum benefit, retirement fund lump sum withdrawal benefit or severance benefit, there must be deducted an amount equal to the sum of the amounts allowed to the natural person by way of rebates under subsection (2).

[Subsection (1) substituted by section 4 of Act 90 of 1988, section 4 of Act 70 of 1989, section 4 of Act 129 of 1991, section 5 of Act 21 of 1995, section 5 of Act 8 of 2007, section 7 of Act 60 of 2008, section 9 of Act 24 of 2011 and section 4 of Act 25 of 2015 and section 7 of Act 15 of 2016 effective on 19 January 2017]

(2)     In the case of a natural person there shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (4), be allowed by way of

(a)     a primary rebate, an amount of R17 235;

[Paragraph (a) amended by section 4 of Act 36 of 1996, by section 3 of Act 28 of 1997, by section 22(a) of Act 30 of 1998, by section 5(a) of Act 32 of 1999, by section 15(a) of Act 30 of 2000, by section 6(a) of Act 19 of 2001, by section 11 of Act 30 of 2002, substituted by section 35 of Act 12 of 2003, by section 6 of Act 16 of 2004, by section 3 of Act 9 of 2005, amended by section 20 of Act 9 of 2006, by section 2(2)(a) of Act 8 of 2007, by section 1(2)(a) of Act 3 of 2008, by section 6(3) of Act 17 of 2009, by section 5(3) of Act 7 of 2010, by section 6(3) of Act 24 of 2011, by section 9(1)(b) of Act 24 of 2011 and substituted by section 2(1) of Act 13 of 2012, by section 4(1) of Act 23 of 2013, by section 3(1) of Act 42 of 2014, by section 4(1) of Act 13 of 2015, by section 5(1) of Act 13 of 2016, by section 4(1) of Act 14 of 2017, by section 3(1) of Act 21 of 2018, by section 2(1) of Act 32 of 2019, by section 3(1) of Act 22 of 2020, by section 2(1) of Act 19 of 2021, by section 2(1) of Act 19 of 2022 and by section 3(1) of Act 19 of 2023 effective on 1 March, 2023 and applicable in respect of years of assessment commencing on or after that date]

(b)     a secondary rebate, if the taxpayer was or, had he or she lived, would have been 65 years of age or older on the last day of the year of assessment, an amount of R9 444; and

[Paragraph (b) amended by section 22(b) of Act 30 of 1998, by section 5(b) of Act 32 of 1999, by section 15(b) of Act 30 of 2000, by section 6(b) of Act 19 of 2001, substituted by section 35 of Act 12 of 2003, by section 6 of Act 16 of 2004, by section 3 of Act 9 of 2005, amended by section 2(2)(a) of Act 8 of 2007, by section 1(2)(a) of Act 3 of 2008, by section 6(3) of Act 17 of 2009, by section 5(3) of Act 7 of 2010, by section 6(3) of Act 24 of 2011, by section 9(1)(c) of Act 24 of 2011 and substituted by section 2(1) of Act 13 of 2012, by section 4(1) of Act 23 of 2013, by section 3(1) of Act 42 of 2014, by section 4(1) of Act 13 of 2015, by section 4(1) of Act 14 of 2017, by section 3(1) of Act 21 of 2018, by section 2(1) of Act 32 of 2019, by section 3(1) of Act 22 of 2020, by section 2(1) of Act 19 of 2021, by section 2(1) of Act 19 of 2022 and by section 3(1) of Act 19 of 2023 effective on 1 March, 2023 and applicable in respect of years of assessment commencing on or after that date]

(c)     a tertiary rebate if the taxpayer was or, had he or she lived, would have been 75 years of age or older on the last day of the year of assessment, an amount of R3 145.

[Subsection (2) amended by section 5(a) and (b) of Act 91 of 1982, by section 4 of Act 121 of 1984, by section 3(a) and (b) of Act 96 of 1985, by section 4 of Act 85 of 1987, by section 4(b) and (c) of Act 90 of 1988, substituted by section 4(1)(a) of Act 70 of 1989, amended by section 3(a), (b) and (c) of Act 101 of 1990, by section 4(b), (c), (d) and (e) of Act 129 of 1991, by section 4(a), (b) and (c) of Act 141 of 1992 and substituted by section 5(a) of Act 21 of 1995. Paragraph (c) added by section 9(1)(d) of Act 24 of 2011 and substituted by section 2(1) of Act 13 of 2012, by section 4(1) of Act 23 of 2013, by section 3(1) of Act 42 of 2014, by section 4(1) of Act 13 of 2015, by section 4(1) of Act 14 of 2017, by section 3(1) of Act 21 of 2018, by section 2(1) of Act 32 of 2019, by section 3(1) of Act 22 of 2020, by section 2(1) of Act 19 of 2021, by section 2(1) of Act 19 of 2022 and by section 3(1) of Act 19 of 2023 effective on 1 March, 2023 and applicable in respect of years of assessment commencing on or after that date]

(3)     ……….

(4)     Where the period assessed is less than 12 months, the amount to be allowed by way of a rebate under subsection (2) shall be such amount as bears to the full amount of such rebate, the same ratio as the period assessed bears to 12 months.

(5)     ……….

[Subsection (5) added by section 8 of Act 7 of 2010, substituted by section 9 of Act 24 of 2011 and deleted by section 4 of Act 25 of 2015 effective on 8 January 2016]

(6)

(a)     The Minister may announce in the national annual budget contemplated in section 27(1) of the Public Finance Management Act, that, with effect from a date or dates mentioned in that announcement, the amounts allowed to a natural person by way of rebates under subsection (2) will be altered to the extent mentioned in the announcement.

(b)     If the Minister makes an announcement of an alteration contemplated in paragraph (a), that alteration comes into effect on the date or dates determined by the Minister in that announcement and continues to apply for a period of 12 months from that date or those dates, subject to Parliament passing legislation giving effect to that announcement within that period of 12 months.

[Subsection (6) added by section 4 of Act 23 of 2018 effective on 17 January 2019]

Subsection 2, 3, 4 of section 6B of ITA

(2)     In determining the normal tax payable by any natural person there must be deducted an amount, to be known as the additional medical scheme fees tax credit, equal to the sum of the amounts allowed to that natural person by way of rebates under subsection (3).

[Subsection (2) substituted by section 9 of Act 15 of 2016 effective on 19 January 2017]

(3)     The amount of the additional medical expenses tax credit must be-

(a)     where the person is entitled to a rebate under section 6(2)(b),the aggregate of-

(i)      33,3 per cent of so much of the amount of the fees paid by the person to a medical scheme or fund contemplated in section 6A(2)(a) as exceeds three times the amount of the medical scheme fees tax credit to which that person is entitled under section 6A(2)(b); and

(ii)     33,3 per cent of the amount of qualifying medical expenses paid by the person;

(b)     where the person, his or her spouse or his or her child is a person with a disability, the aggregate of-

(i)      33,3 per cent of so much of the amount of the fees paid by the person to a medical scheme or fund contemplated in section 6A(2)(a) as exceeds three times the amount of the medical scheme fees tax credit to which that person is entitled under section 6A(2)(b); and

(ii)     33,3 per cent of the amount of qualifying medical expenses paid by the person; or

(c)     in any other case, if the aggregate of-

(i)      the amount of the fees paid by the person to a medical scheme or fund contemplated in section 6A(2)(a) as exceeds four times the amount of the medical scheme fees tax credit to which that person is entitled under section 6A(2)(b); and

(ii)     the amount of qualifying medical expenses paid by the person,

exceeds 7,5 per cent of the person’s taxable income (excluding any retirement fund lump sum benefit, retirement fund lump sum withdrawal benefit and severance benefit), 25 per cent of the excess.

[Paragraph (c) substituted by section 3 of Act 43 of 2014 effective on 1 March 2014]

(4)     For the purposes of this section, any amount contemplated in subsection (3) or the definition of ‘qualifying medical expenses’ that has been paid by-

(a)     the estate of a deceased person is deemed to have been paid by the person on the day before his or her death; or

(b)     an employer of the person is, to the extent that the amount has been included in the income of that person as a taxable benefit in terms of the Seventh Schedule, deemed to have been paid by that person.

(5)

(a)     The Minister may announce in the national annual budget contemplated in section 27(1) of the Public Finance Management Act, that, with effect from a date or dates mentioned in that announcement, the amounts allowed to a natural person by way of rebates under subsection (3) will be altered to the extent mentioned in the announcement.

(b)     If the Minister makes an announcement of an alteration contemplated in paragraph (a), that alteration comes into effect on the date or dates determined by the Minister in that announcement and continues to apply for a period of 12 months from that date or those dates subject to Parliament passing legislation giving effect to that announcement within that period of 12 months.

[Subsection (5) added by section 6 of Act 23 of 2018 effective on 17 January 2019]

“Consideration” definition of section 8C of ITA

‘consideration’ in respect of an equity instrument means any amount given or to be given (otherwise man in the form of services rendered or to be rendered or anything done, to be done or not to be done) –

 

(a)     by the taxpayer in respect of that equity instrument;

 

(b)     by the taxpayer in respect of any other restricted equity instrument which had been disposed of by that taxpayer in exchange for that equity instrument, reduced by any amount attributable to the gain or loss determined in terms of subsection (4)(b); or

 

(c)     by any person contemplated in subsection (5) (a) or (b) in respect of that restricted equity instrument to the extent that the amount does not exceed the amount the taxpayer would have had to give to acquire that equity instrument had it not been disposed of or deemed to have been disposed of by him or her, but does not include any amount given or to be given by that person to the taxpayer to acquire that restricted equity instrument:

 

Provided that where a taxpayer acquires –

 

(a)     an equity instrument in exchange for any other equity instrument, as contemplated in subsection (4)(a), the market value of the equity instrument given in exchange must not be taken into account in determining the consideration in respect of the equity instrument so acquired; or

 

(b)     a right to acquire any marketable security in exchange for any other such right, as contemplated in section 8A(5), and the right so acquired constitutes an equity instrument acquired in the manner contemplated in subsection (1), the consideration for that equity instrument must be determined as if it was acquired in the manner contemplated in subsection (4)(a);

“Qualifying medical expenses” definition of section 6B of ITA

‘qualifying medical expenses’ means-

 

(a)     any amounts (other than amounts recoverable by a person or his or her spouse) which were paid by the person during the year of assessment to any duly registered-

 

(i)      medical practitioner, dentist, optometrist, homeopath, naturopath, osteopath, herbalist, physiotherapist, chiropractor or orthopedist for professional services rendered or medicines supplied to the person or any dependant of the person;

 

(ii)     nursing home or hospital or any duly registered or enrolled nurse, midwife or nursing assistant (or to any nursing agency in respect of the services of such a nurse, midwife or nursing assistant) in respect of the illness or confinement of the person or any dependant of the person; or

 

(iii)    pharmacist for medicines supplied on the prescription of any person mentioned in subparagraph (i) for the person or any dependant of the person;

  

(b)     any amounts (other than amounts recoverable by a person or his or her spouse) which were paid by the person during the year of assessment in respect of expenditure incurred outside the Republic on services rendered or medicines supplied to the person or any dependant of the person, and which are substantially similar to the services and medicines contemplated in   paragraph (a); and

  

(c)     any expenditure that is prescribed by the Commissioner (other than expenditure recoverable by a person or his or her spouse) necessarily incurred and paid by the person during the year of assessment in consequence of any physical impairment or disability suffered by the person or any dependant of the person.

Subsection 5 of section 8 of ITA

(5)

(a)     Any amount which has been paid, whether in the form of rent or otherwise, by any person for the right of use or occupation of any movable or immovable property and has been allowed as a deduction in the determination of such person’s taxable income, and which or the equivalent of which is upon the subsequent acquisition of such property by that or any other person applied in reduction or towards settlement of the purchase price of such property, shall be included in the income of the person by whom the property is acquired as aforesaid for the year of assessment in which such person exercises the option or concludes the agreement, as the case may be, in consequence of which the property is acquired by him: Provided that the provisions of this subsection shall not apply in any case where, in consequence of the acquisition of such property, the person who has acquired the property or any other person has derived a taxable benefit the cash equivalent of which has been included in his gross income in terms of the provisions of paragraph (i) of the definition of “gross income” in section 1.

(b)     Where any amount has been paid by any person for the right of use or occupation of any property which is thereafter acquired by that or any other person for a consideration which  is less than the fair market value of such property, it shall for the purposes of paragraph (a) be deemed that the said amount, or so much thereof as does not exceed the fair market value of such property less the amount of the consideration, if any, for which it has been acquired as aforesaid, has been applied in reduction or towards settlement of the purchase price of such property.

[Paragraph (b) substituted by section 8 of Act 94 of 1983, section 5 of Act 43 of 2014 and section 8 of Act 25 of 2015 effective 8 January 2016]

(bA)  If after the termination by the effluxion of time or otherwise of a lease of property consisting of corporeal movable goods or of any machinery or plant in respect of which the lessor under such lease was entitled to any allowance under the provisions of this Act, the person who was the lessee under such lease (hereinafter referred to as the former lessee) is, with the express or implied consent or acquiescence of the person who was the lessor under such lease (hereinafter referred to as the former lessor) or of the owner of the property, allowed to use, enjoy or deal with the property as the former lessee may deem fit-

(i)      without the payment of any consideration; or

(ii)     in the case of a lease without the payment of any rental or other consideration or subject to the payment of any consideration which is nominal in relation to the fair market value of the property,

the former lessee shall be deemed for the purposes of paragraph (b) to have acquired the property  for no consideration and, if the property was owned by the former lessor, the fair market value thereof shall be deemed for the said purposes to be the cost to the former lessor of the property  (or, where the said lease was a financial lease contemplated in paragraph (b) of the definition of ‘instalment credit agreement’ in section 1 of the Value-Added Tax Act, the cash value as defined in that Act of the property, less a depreciation allowance calculated in accordance with paragraph (bB)(i) for the period from the commencement to the termination of the lease.

[Words following subparagraph (ii) substituted by section 8 of Act 25 of 2015 effective on 8 January 2016]

(bB)   For the purposes of paragraph (bA)

(i)      the depreciation allowance shall be calculated as an aggregate of annual allowances for the years in the period for which the depreciation allowance may be made, the allowance for the first year in the said period being calculated at the rate of 20 per cent of the said cost or cash value, as the case may be, of the property in question and the allowance for each succeeding year in that period being calculated at the said rate on the balance of the said cost or cash value, as the case may be, remaining after the deduction therefrom of the allowance or allowances calculated for the year or years preceding such succeeding year;

(ii)     the former lessor of the property in question, or the owner thereof, as the case may be, shall, unless and until the contrary is proved, be deemed to have consented to the former lessee using, enjoying or dealing with the property as contemplated in the said paragraph if, at the end of a period of three months reckoned after the date on which the lease in question terminated, the former lessor has not instituted proceedings to compel the former lessee to return the property to the former lessor or to relinquish possession thereof or to dispose thereof in accordance with the terms of the lease;

(iii)    where any consideration is payable in respect of the property in question for the period after the termination of the lease in question, such consideration shall be deemed to be nominal in relation to the fair market value of the property if that consideration, in relation to the period for which it is payable, amounts to less than 10 per cent per annum of the said fair market value;

(iv)    if after the termination of a lease referred to in the said paragraph (bA) the former lessee is required to pay a consideration in respect of his right to use, enjoy or deal with the property in question but ceases to pay such consideration or, in the case of a lease referred to in subparagraph (ii) of the said paragraph (bA), pays a consideration in respect of such right which is nominal in relation to the fair market value of the property, the said lease shall be deemed to have been terminated on the date from which the former lessee is no longer required to pay such consideration or in the case of a lease referred to in the said subparagraph (ii), whereafter the consideration payable by him becomes nominal as aforesaid.

(v)     ……….

(bC)   Any person who, as a former lessor of property referred to in paragraph (bA) or as the owner thereof, has after the termination of the lease of such property consented to the former lessee thereof using, enjoying or dealing with such property as contemplated in the said paragraph, or is deemed to have so consented under the provisions of paragraph (bB) (ii), shall not later than 14 days after the end of three months after the termination of the relevant lease advise the former lessee of the fair market value of such property as determined in accordance with paragraph (bA).

Section 6quin (ITA) – Rebate in respect of foreign taxes on income from source within Republic

6quin.     Rebate in respect of foreign taxes on income from source within Republic

(1)       ……….

[Subsection (1) amended by section 4 of Act 22 of 2012 and section 13 of Act 24 of 2011 and deleted by section 7 of Act 25 of 2015 effective on 1 January 2016]

(2)     ……….

[Subsection (2) deleted by section 7 of Act 25 of 2015 effective on 1 January 2016]

(3)     ……….

[Subsection (3) amended by section 4 of Act 22 of 2012 and deleted by section 7 of Act 25 of 2015 efffective on 1 January 2016]

(3A)    ……….

[Subsection (3A) inserted by section 13 of Act 24 of 2011, substituted by section 4 of Act 39 of 2013 and deleted by section 7 of Act 25 of 2015 effective on 1 January 2016]

(4)     ………….

[Subsection (4) deleted by section 7 of Act 25 of 2015 effective on 1 January 2016]

(5)     Where, during any year of assessment, a rebate was deducted in terms of this section from the normal tax payable by a resident and, in any year of assessment subsequent to that year of assessment, that resident receives any amount by way of refund in respect of the amount so deducted or is discharged from any liability in respect of that amount, so much of the amount so received or so much of the amount of that discharge as does not exceed that rebate must be deemed to be an amount of normal tax payable by that resident in respect of that subsequent year of assessment.

[Subsection (5) inserted by section 4 of Act 22 of 2012 and substituted by section 7 of Act 25 of 2015 effective on 1 January 2016]