Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences
School of Financial Sciences
Department of Taxation
Selected Highlights from Research Findings
The 2006 tax practitioner survey, carried out under the supervision of the World Bank Group (WBG) at the request of the National Treasury and SARS, aims to establish the tax compliance burden for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa. This survey (along with two related surveys targeted directly for formal SMEs and informal firms) is being conducted on a nation-wide basis. The National Treasury and SARS plan to use the results of this study, in cooperation with WBG, as a strategic input into policy formulation with regard to the tax compliance costs of SMEs. One of these is the Tax Practitioner Survey, developed by WBG in consultation with the researcher as well as other professional institutions such as the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), the South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA) and the South African Certified Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (SAICB). The results of this survey will provide the only evidence of its kind in South Africa as the survey is being conducted on a nation-wide basis and will be used by National Treasury and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) to make appropriate changes in terms of the design and enactment of reforms in the area of SME tax administration by the Government and Parliament.Tax practitioners are requested to answer questions contained in a web-based questionnaire, which covers areas such as: the nature of their business and their experience with taxation matters and SARS;the time and costs incurred by tax practitioners when dealing with SARS on behalf of their clients;tax practitioner’s experience with SARS regarding the tax compliance process; andhow SARS can make this process easier The survey ended in January 2007. A report containing the analysis and interpretation of the results is currently being prepared by the researcher and will be presented to SARS, National Treasury, SAICA, SAIPA and the SAICB within the next few months
Contact person: Ms SA Smulders.
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