49B.     Levy of withholding tax on royalties

(1)

(a)     There must be levied for the benefit of the National Revenue Fund a tax, to be known as the withholding tax on royalties, calculated-

(i)      at the rate of 15 per cent; or

(ii)     at such rate as the Minister may announce in the national annual budget contemplated in section 27(1) of the Public Finance Management Act, with effect from a date mentioned in that Announcement,

of the amount of any royalty that is paid by any person to or for the benefit of any foreign person to the extent that the amount is regarded as having been received by or accrued to that foreign person from a source within the Republic in terms of section 9(2)(c), (d), (e) or (f).

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

[Subsection (1) substituted by section 97 of Act 31 of 2013 and section 57 of Act 17 of 2017 effective on 18 December 2017]

(2)     For the purposes of this Part, a royalty is deemed to be paid on the earlier of the date on which the royalty is paid or becomes due and payable.

(3)     The withholding tax on royalties is a final tax.

(4)     Where a person making payment of a royalty to or for the benefit of a foreign person has withheld an amount as contemplated in section 49E(1), that person must, for the purposes of this Part, be deemed to have paid the amount so withheld to that foreign person.