Section 80A(c)(ii) of the Income Tax Act and the interpretation of tax statutes in South Africa

Section 80A(c)(ii) of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962, as amended (the Act), introduced a new concept to the South African income tax environment: misuse or abuse of the provisions of the Act, including Part IIA thereof. According to the Revised Proposals on Tax Avoidance and section 103 of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 (Revised Proposals) the rationale behind the insertion of section 80A(c)(ii) was to reinforce the modern approach to the interpretation of tax statutes “in order to find the meaning that harmonizes the wording, object, spirit and purpose of the provisions of the Income Tax Act”. The objective of this article is to examine the rationale behind section 80A(c)(ii) of the Act.