SARS welcomes ConCourt ruling … but taxpayers are the real winners
IN THE aftermath of the SARS v Thistle Trust case, SARS has issued a media release welcoming the Constitutional Court’s judgement, praising it for providing much-needed clarity on the interpretation of tax laws.
While SARS acknowledges the ruling as a step forward for the clarity of tax legislation, the judgement itself is a win for taxpayers—especially on the issue of legal interpretation.
This decision has important implications for how tax law will be applied moving forward, particularly when it comes to balancing legislative intent with the clear wording of the law.
The role of legislative intent and exploratory memoranda
In its judgement, the Constitutional Court emphasised the significance of legislative intent when interpreting tax laws, particularly in cases where there is ambiguity about how those laws should be applied. This was central to the Thistle Trust case, where the application of the conduit principle to capital gains within trust structures was contested.
However, the court made it clear that while exploratory memoranda can help clarify what …
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