Tax Base Erosion and Profit Shifting in Africa – Part 1: Africa’s Response to the OECD BEPS Action Plan

This paper considers what Africa’s response should be to the OECD’s base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project. The paper acknowledges that BEPS concerns for developing countries (such as those in Africa) may not necessarily be the same as those for developed countries. The author first explains the concepts of tax avoidance and tax planning, to describe the background to BEPS. An explanation is given of the causes of BEPS, the challenges BEPS poses to corporate tax systems, the importance of corporate taxes in Africa, and the factors that exacerbate BEPS in Africa. The paper also differentiates BEPS from the notion of illicit financial flows – a matter that is causing a lot of confusion to the general public in understanding BEPS issues, and to finding solutions to the problem of capital flight from Africa. Thereafter the author addresses the relevance of the OECD BEPS Project to Africa, the international initiatives that could benefit Africa in curtailing BEPS, and what Africa’s response should be

Tax Base Erosion and Profit Shifting in Africa – Part 2: A Critique of Some Priority OECD Actions from an African Perspective

Summary: In Part 2 of this article, the author continues her examination of the implications of the OECD’s Action Plan on Tax Base Erosion and Profit Shifting from an African perspective. Although the OECD Project covers 15 Actions to address BEPS, the low economic development of many African countries, their limited administrative capacity and general lack of development of international tax laws limits the ability of these countries to fully implement all the OECD’s recommendations to curtail BEPS. This paper identifies three of the highest priority actions that have the greatest BEPS impact for African economies. These are: Action 4, which deals with limiting base erosion via interest deductions and other financial payments; Action 6, which deals with preventing treaty abuse; and Action 7, which deals with preventing the artificial avoidance of permanent establishment status. Referring to examples from an array of African countries, the paper discusses the special concerns that these countries face with respect to Actions 4, 6 and 7 and the limitations of the measures that they currently apply to deal with those concerns. Thereafter, the paper provides recommendations as to how African countries can effectively implement the OECD recommendations with respect to Actions 4, 6 and 7. This analysis is based on the premise that as much as African countries are encouraged to associate themselves with the OECD recommendations to curtail BEPS, their approach should be one of coming up with customised solutions to protect their tax bases. Since African countries’ tax systems are not homogenous and since their levels of economic development as well as their levels of administrative capacity to deal with the challenges associated with BEPS vary immensely, each country must evaluate its own situation to identify its particular issues and determine the most appropriate techniques to ensure a sound tax base.Bill and Melinda Gates FoundationDepartment for International Developmen

Antimicrobial drug resistance of enteric bacteria from broilers fed antimicrobial growth enhancers and exposed poultry abattoir workers

The usage of antimicrobials either as performance enhancers or for prophylactic and therapeutic purposes in food animals, such as chickens, increases the prevalence of antimicrobial drug resistance among enteric bacteria of these animals. This may be transferred to people working with such animals, e.g. abattoir workers, or the products arising from these animals. In this study antimicrobial drug resistance was investigated for selected enteric bacteria from broilers raised on feed supplemented with antimicrobial growth enhancers, and the people who carry out evisceration, washing and packing of intestines in a high throughput poultry abattoir in Gauteng, South Africa. Poultry farms (n=6) were purposively selected on the basis of allowing for sampling of farms from more than one grow out cycle. Broiler carcases (n=100) were randomly selected per farm five minutes after slaughter and sampled by incising caecae from the rest of the gastro-intestinal tract (GIT). The ends of each caecae were tied off to prevent contamination and to enhance the culturing of anaerobic bacteria. In the laboratory, caecal contents were selectively cultured for Clostridium perfringens, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecium, E. faecalis, and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). Salmonella enterica was isolated using pre-enrichment followed by selective culture. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) micro broth dilution test as prescribed by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute USA (CLSI), previously known as National Committee of Clinical Laboratories (NCCL), was used to determine the susceptibility of the isolates to the following antimicrobials: vancomycin, virginiamycin, doxycycline, trimethoprim, sulphamethoxazole, ampicillin, bacitracin, enrofloxacin, erythromycin, fosfomycin, ceftriaxone and nalidixic acid. The same was done on the faeces of 29 abattoir workers exposed to potentially resistant micro-organisms from broilers and 28 persons used as controls, who had not been equally exposed to potentially resistant micro-organisms from broilers. Both of the human populations had not been treated with antimicrobials within three months prior to sampling. Statistical analysis was done by Fisher’s exact test. No salmonellae and VRE on VRE selective agar (Oxoid UK) were cultured. Two Clostridium perfringens, 168 E. coli, 20 E. faecalis and 96 E. faecium isolates from the broiler caecae were cultured. Fifty four (28 and 26) E. coli, 24 (21 and 3) E. faecalis and 12 (2 and 10) E. faeciumfrom humans were cultured. The figures in brackets represent the abattoir workers and human controls respectively. The majority of E. coli isolates from broilers had MIC’s above the cut off point for the antimicrobials tested. Low resistance was observed among broiler enterococci isolates to vancomycin, virginiamycin, trimethoprim and ampicillin. A comparison of the median MIC’s of isolates from abattoir workers (packers) and the control group revealed significant differences in the median MIC’s for the following antimicrobials; E. faecalis: enrofloxacin (p=0.019). E. faecium, trimethoprim (p=0.01), enrofloxacin (p=0.029) and erythromycin (p=0.03). E. coli: trimethoprim (p=0.012) and ampicillin (p=0.036). Use of antimicrobials as feed additives causes resistance among enteric bacteria from broilers. Significant differences between median MIC’s of abattoir workers (packers) and the control group were observed for therapeutics and not growth enhancers. There was a tendency for isolates from abattoir workers to have a higher median MIC and a higher number of resistant isolates as compared to the control group. In spite of the fact that there was a high level of resistance in the enteric commensal bacteria of broiler caecae, an association could not be shown with that of the human enteric bacteria. It could not be concluded that a significant AMR transfer to poultry abattoir workers existed. This notwithstanding, both the control and experimental group, carried levels of resistance among their enteric bacteria that could be described as being high.Dissertation (MSc (Veterinary Science))--University of Pretoria, 2007.Paraclinical Sciencesunrestricte

The Challenges E-Commerce Poses to the Determination of a Taxable Presence: the “Permanent Establishment†Concept Analyzed From a South African Perspective

It is a principle of International tax law that a country may not tax the business profits of a non-resident enterprise unless those profits are attributed to a “permanent establishmentâ€located in the source country. A “permanent establishment†is defined as a fixed place of businessthrough which the enterprise is wholly or partly carried on. The “business establishment†concept ishowever based on the world where there had to be a physical presence of the business in order for itsprofits to be taxed. The requirement of a fixed place of business faces challenges when trade isconducted electronically as e-commerce makes it difficult to identifying a taxable presence in thesource country. This article analyses the challenges that e-commerce poses to the “permanentestablishment†concept

Geographic distribution of Staphylococcus spp. infections and antimicrobial resistance among dogs from Gauteng Province presented at a veterinary teaching hospital in South Africa.

The objective of this study was to investigate spatial patterns of staphylococcal infections and resistance patterns of clinical isolates from dogs from Gauteng province in South Africa. Data from records of 1,497 dog clinical samples submitted to a veterinary teaching hospital between 2007 and 2012 were used in the study. Spatial empirical Bayesian smoothed risk maps were used to investigate spatial patterns of staphylococcal infections, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and multidrug resistance (MDR). Moran’s I and spatial scan statistics were used to investigate spatial clusters at municipal and town spatial scales. Significant clusters of staphylococcal infections were identified at both the municipal (Relative Risk [RR]=1.71, p=0.003) and town (RR=1.65, p=0.039) scales. However, significant clusters of AMR (p=0.003) and MDR (p=0.007) were observed only at the town scale. Future larger studies will need to investigate local determinants of geographical distribution of the clusters so as to guide targeted control efforts

The parallel rise of multinational enterprises and the historical development of international tax rules –introspection for the new rules to tax the digital economy

This article traces the rise of multinational enterprises (MNEs) and the effectiveness of measures that countries have employed to ensure that MNEs pay taxes in the jurisdictions in which they transact. The article shows that, as countries enacted various taxing measures, MNEs devised tax avoidance schemes to exploit arising loopholes.https://www.ibfd.org/content-solutions/journal-articles-opinion-pieces/bulletin-international-taxation-bithj2023Taxatio

Blended teaching and learning: Exploring the concept, barriers to implementation and designing of learning resources

With the advent of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), several institutions worldwide have adopted the blended mode of teaching and learning. However, literature on this concept in South Africa and on the African continent is scarce. This scoping review explores the concept of blended approach to training and how to design resources for the blended teaching and learning approach. In addition, the review investigates barriers to the implementation of blended learning. The findings of this study demonstrate that the understanding of the concept of blended teaching and learning is not homogenous and is often left to individual academics to decide on the approach. The review identified several hurdles that need to be addressed for successful implementation of blended teaching and learning, however these are not specific to South African institutions. Available literature on studies done elsewhere and in South African, suggest that some of the identified barriers to adoption of blended teaching and learning are real, while others are perceived or imagined. Lastly, the authors observed that there are several approaches to designing learning resources for the blended mode of teaching and learning. The choice of approach is dependent on the intended purpose for which the specific design is adopted. There is a need for studies that specifically investigate blended learning in Universities in South Africa and on the continent to help identify barriers to adopting blended teaching and learning among institutions that are specific to the South African and African context. Institutions adopting the blended teaching and learning mode of delivery, need to be unambiguous in their philosophy of blending teaching and learning and not leave it to the implementing academics. Policymakers can use the information generated in this review to recommend minimum requirements for a blended delivery mode in public institutions of higher learning

An Exploratory Descriptive Study of Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns of Staphylococcus Spp. Isolated from Horses Presented at a Veterinary Teaching Hospital

Background Antimicrobial resistant Staphylococcus are becoming increasingly important in horses because of the zoonotic nature of the pathogens and the associated risks to caregivers and owners. Knowledge of the burden and their antimicrobial resistance patterns are important to inform control strategies. This study is an exploratory descriptive investigation of the burden and antimicrobial drug resistance patterns of Staphylococcus isolates from horses presented at a veterinary teaching hospital in South Africa. Methods Retrospective laboratory clinical records of 1027 horses presented at the University of Pretoria veterinary teaching hospital between 2007 and 2012 were included in the study. Crude and factor-specific percentages of Staphylococcus positive samples, antimicrobial resistant (AMR) and multidrug resistant (MDR) isolates were computed and compared across Staphylococcus spp., geographic locations, seasons, years, breed and sex using Chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests. Results Of the 1027 processed clinical samples, 12.0% were Staphylococcus positive. The majority of the isolates were S. aureus (41.5%) followed by S. pseudintermedius(14.6%). Fifty-two percent of the Staphylococcus positive isolates were AMR while 28.5% were MDR. Significant (p \u3c 0.05) differences in the percentage of samples with isolates that were AMR or MDR was observed across seasons, horse breeds and Staphylococcus spp. Summer season had the highest (64.3%) and autumn the lowest (29.6%) percentages of AMR isolates. Highest percentage of AMR samples were observed among the Boerperds (85.7%) followed by the American saddler (75%) and the European warm blood (73.9%). Significantly (p \u3c 0.001) more S. aureus isolates (72.5%) were AMR than S. pseudintermedius isolates (38.9%). Similarly, significantly (p \u3c 0.001) more S. aureus (52.9%) exhibited MDR than S. pseudintermedius (16.7%). The highest levels of AMR were towards β-lactams (84.5%) followed by trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (folate pathway inhibitors) (60.9%) while the lowest levels of resistance were towards amikacin (14.%). Conclusions This exploratory study provides useful information to guide future studies that will be critical for guiding treatment decisions and control efforts. There is a need to implement appropriate infection control, and judicious use of antimicrobials to arrest development of antimicrobial resistance. A better understanding of the status of the problem is a first step towards that goal

Curbing offshore tax avoidance: the case of South African companies and trusts

This work entails a study of some of the schemes that are employed by country residents when companies and trusts are used as vehicles for investing in offshore tax-haven and low tax jurisdictions so as to avoid taxes. The study also entails a critical analysis of the effectiveness of the some of the laws in South Africa that curb such offshore tax avoidance schemes. Similar laws in the United Kingdom and in the United States are analysed in order to come up with some recommendations that could be considered for possible reform of the relevant South African laws where they are found wanting. Since offshore tax avoidance is an international issue, the effectiveness of the recommendations of some international organisations in preventing the depletion of countries' tax bases are also analysed.JURISPRUDENCELL

Transfer pricing adjustments : the different types, practical challenges and recommended approaches-a South African perspective

This article concerns the tax policy and practical challenges that arise from applying the various transfer pricing adjustments. The lack of clear international guidelines on how to address some issues regarding transfer pricing adjustments and the diverging policy positions that some countries have taken, pose uncertainties for taxpayers and tax disputes which can impede international trade. These challenges are addressed in the article by focusing on the South African position and providing recommendations on how to resolve some of them. The explanation of the murky issues regarding transfer pricing adjustments will be found instrumental for developing countries where the legislation, administration and practice of transfer pricing are not yet well developed. The article’s focus is on South Africa, an emerging economy on the African continent, which is used as a base for many MNEs that invest in the rest of Africa. It will be useful for foreign investors to gain an understanding of South Africa’s position on transfer pricing adjustments.https://unisapressjournals.co.za/index.php/CILSAam2023Taxatio