Pub Date : 2019-09-02DOI: 10.1080/10291954.2019.1662210
G. Nel, R. Baard
The use of corporate websites as communication medium may contribute to good governance and specifically transparency as one of the basic principles of governance, mitigating the effect of the agency problem. The primary objective of this study was to ascertain the link between voluntary corporate website disclosure and information asymmetry for the smallest JSE-listed companies. Rule 26, as issued by the LSE for its AIM-listed companies, was used as proxy for disclosure while the bid-ask spread stood as a proxy for information asymmetry. The results of a content analysis showed that the majority of smaller listed JSE companies are not on par with their UK counterparts. Using agency theory, it was argued that if information voluntarily disclosed by companies on their corporate websites is useful to investors, it should theoretically decrease information asymmetry. Although empirical evidence of a negative relationship between disclosure and the bid-ask spread was found, the relationship changed to not significant once controlled for market capitalisation. Besides the bid-ask spread, the association between disclosure and both share price volatility and share turnover (both as alternative proxies for information asymmetry) was tested, and both were found non-significantly related to disclosure. The results reported do suggest that the Rule 26 minimum corporate website disclosures may not be sufficient in persuading investors to change their trading behaviour. Although there has been no research on the voluntary compliance and effect of Rule 26 website disclosure on information asymmetry using JSE small-cap data, a major limitation of this study is that generalisation of results is limited to small listed companies.
{"title":"Minimum corporate website disclosure levels and information asymmetry: Evidence from Johannesburg Stock Exchange small-cap companies","authors":"G. Nel, R. Baard","doi":"10.1080/10291954.2019.1662210","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10291954.2019.1662210","url":null,"abstract":"The use of corporate websites as communication medium may contribute to good governance and specifically transparency as one of the basic principles of governance, mitigating the effect of the agency problem. The primary objective of this study was to ascertain the link between voluntary corporate website disclosure and information asymmetry for the smallest JSE-listed companies. Rule 26, as issued by the LSE for its AIM-listed companies, was used as proxy for disclosure while the bid-ask spread stood as a proxy for information asymmetry. The results of a content analysis showed that the majority of smaller listed JSE companies are not on par with their UK counterparts. Using agency theory, it was argued that if information voluntarily disclosed by companies on their corporate websites is useful to investors, it should theoretically decrease information asymmetry. Although empirical evidence of a negative relationship between disclosure and the bid-ask spread was found, the relationship changed to not significant once controlled for market capitalisation. Besides the bid-ask spread, the association between disclosure and both share price volatility and share turnover (both as alternative proxies for information asymmetry) was tested, and both were found non-significantly related to disclosure. The results reported do suggest that the Rule 26 minimum corporate website disclosures may not be sufficient in persuading investors to change their trading behaviour. Although there has been no research on the voluntary compliance and effect of Rule 26 website disclosure on information asymmetry using JSE small-cap data, a major limitation of this study is that generalisation of results is limited to small listed companies.","PeriodicalId":43731,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Accounting Research","volume":"33 1","pages":"187 - 204"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2019-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10291954.2019.1662210","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48314260","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-08-14DOI: 10.1080/10291954.2019.1638590
Nabeelah Daniels, Riyaan Davids
Retention of employees of the millennial generation is becoming an increasing problem for employers throughout the world. It has been found in prior research that higher levels of job satisfaction by employees in organisations was a key determinant in improving employee retention levels. This had the effect of increasing the ability of organisations to be competitive in the market. The focus of this study is to determine the levels of job satisfaction of newly qualified chartered accountants. It then goes further by analysing the factors which influence their overall levels of job satisfaction. The results are valuable for employers of chartered accountants from the millennial generation in that it allows employers to better understand and improve working conditions in their organisations in order to increase overall job satisfaction levels, reduce employee turnover and ultimately increase organisations’ competitive positions in the market. The study focused on analysing the overall levels of job satisfaction of chartered accountants classified as millennials employed inside and outside of academia as these were identified as the two broad groups within which chartered accountants were employed. The findings found that chartered accountants employed in academia experienced a significantly higher level of job satisfaction than their counterparts employed outside of academia. The factors found to be most important in an ideal job for newly qualified CAs were remuneration, flexibility, ability to grow professionally, working hours, meaningfulness of work, and being challenged at work. The results found that chartered accountants employed in academia experienced significantly higher levels of fulfilment in the following factors; remuneration, flexibility, working hours, and meaningfulness of work.
{"title":"Retaining newly qualified chartered accountants: A South African case study","authors":"Nabeelah Daniels, Riyaan Davids","doi":"10.1080/10291954.2019.1638590","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10291954.2019.1638590","url":null,"abstract":"Retention of employees of the millennial generation is becoming an increasing problem for employers throughout the world. It has been found in prior research that higher levels of job satisfaction by employees in organisations was a key determinant in improving employee retention levels. This had the effect of increasing the ability of organisations to be competitive in the market. The focus of this study is to determine the levels of job satisfaction of newly qualified chartered accountants. It then goes further by analysing the factors which influence their overall levels of job satisfaction. The results are valuable for employers of chartered accountants from the millennial generation in that it allows employers to better understand and improve working conditions in their organisations in order to increase overall job satisfaction levels, reduce employee turnover and ultimately increase organisations’ competitive positions in the market. The study focused on analysing the overall levels of job satisfaction of chartered accountants classified as millennials employed inside and outside of academia as these were identified as the two broad groups within which chartered accountants were employed. The findings found that chartered accountants employed in academia experienced a significantly higher level of job satisfaction than their counterparts employed outside of academia. The factors found to be most important in an ideal job for newly qualified CAs were remuneration, flexibility, ability to grow professionally, working hours, meaningfulness of work, and being challenged at work. The results found that chartered accountants employed in academia experienced significantly higher levels of fulfilment in the following factors; remuneration, flexibility, working hours, and meaningfulness of work.","PeriodicalId":43731,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Accounting Research","volume":"33 1","pages":"220 - 235"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2019-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10291954.2019.1638590","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46765978","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-05-04DOI: 10.1080/10291954.2019.1649231
Rolien Kunz, H. de Jager
The objective of this paper is to determine the relative size of the expectation-performance gap of technical auditing and assurance knowledge of newly employed first-year trainee accountants. In a study dealing with the expectation-performance gap in accounting education it was reported that according to practitioners, graduates were not able to demonstrate the expected practical accounting knowledge. This gives rise to the question: is the gap really as big as practitioners would like academic institutions to believe? As the relative extent of the gap will be determined in this study, the findings could assist audit and assurance academics in understanding accounting practitioners’ expectations of and concerns about newly employed first-year trainee accountants, which as a result could be addressed in their education practices. In addition, training at training offices at audit firms could be customised to focus on the areas in which the newly employed first-year trainee accountants are lacking. A questionnaire was used to determine audit managers’ perceptions regarding their expectations and their perceptions regarding the actual levels of capability demonstrated by newly employed first-year trainee accountants when performing technical audit and assurance tasks, after which the relative size of the expectation-performance gap was determined. The findings indicate that audit managers do not expect newly employed first-year trainee accountants to be capable of performing any of the identified technical audit and assurance tasks without, or with only limited supervision. However, despite this rather low expectation, it was evident that newly employed first-year trainee accountants do not meet audit managers’ expectations. The technical audit and assurance task with the largest expectation-performance gap was the ability of newly employed first-year trainee accountants to consider and document the need to use computer-assisted audit techniques to gather audit evidence, with an expectation-performance gap of 28.9%.
{"title":"Exploring the audit capabilities expectation-performance gap of newly employed first-year trainee accountants in Gauteng: Audit managers at large firms’ perceptions","authors":"Rolien Kunz, H. de Jager","doi":"10.1080/10291954.2019.1649231","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10291954.2019.1649231","url":null,"abstract":"The objective of this paper is to determine the relative size of the expectation-performance gap of technical auditing and assurance knowledge of newly employed first-year trainee accountants. In a study dealing with the expectation-performance gap in accounting education it was reported that according to practitioners, graduates were not able to demonstrate the expected practical accounting knowledge. This gives rise to the question: is the gap really as big as practitioners would like academic institutions to believe? As the relative extent of the gap will be determined in this study, the findings could assist audit and assurance academics in understanding accounting practitioners’ expectations of and concerns about newly employed first-year trainee accountants, which as a result could be addressed in their education practices. In addition, training at training offices at audit firms could be customised to focus on the areas in which the newly employed first-year trainee accountants are lacking. A questionnaire was used to determine audit managers’ perceptions regarding their expectations and their perceptions regarding the actual levels of capability demonstrated by newly employed first-year trainee accountants when performing technical audit and assurance tasks, after which the relative size of the expectation-performance gap was determined. The findings indicate that audit managers do not expect newly employed first-year trainee accountants to be capable of performing any of the identified technical audit and assurance tasks without, or with only limited supervision. However, despite this rather low expectation, it was evident that newly employed first-year trainee accountants do not meet audit managers’ expectations. The technical audit and assurance task with the largest expectation-performance gap was the ability of newly employed first-year trainee accountants to consider and document the need to use computer-assisted audit techniques to gather audit evidence, with an expectation-performance gap of 28.9%.","PeriodicalId":43731,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Accounting Research","volume":"33 1","pages":"145 - 162"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2019-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10291954.2019.1649231","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49370152","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-05-04DOI: 10.1080/10291954.2019.1647937
Arson Malola, W. Maroun
This paper develops a measure for integrated report quality and explores possible drivers of high-quality reporting considering a sample of large listed companies in 2015 and 2016. Data are collected from South Africa where integrated reporting has been established for a number of years and where companies have had the time to interpret and apply reporting guidelines. A detailed content analysis is used to construct a quality measure representing an accumulation of different indicators from the environmental and sustainability reporting literature. The quantity of information disclosed, the emphasis placed on different disclosures and the use of quantitative or qualitative disclosures are considered. Whether disclosures are substantive or symbolic and how easy it is for stakeholders to interpret integrated reports based on the use of infographics is also taken into account when gauging report quality. The results show that, while integrated reporting has become well established in South Africa, there is considerable room for improvement. Most disclosures are qualitative and symbolic rather than quantified and substantive. A combination of Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U-tests shows that companies with higher quality integrated reports are those which invest in complementing their integrated reports with a sustainability report and having their disclosures externally assured. Company size, environmental and social impact, the use of a sustainability committee and compliance with the Global Reporting Initiative do not necessarily influence report quality. These findings suggest that, as integrated reporting matures, external factors contribute less to the quality of reporting and internal processes become more relevant.
{"title":"The measurement and potential drivers of integrated report quality: Evidence from a pioneer in integrated reporting","authors":"Arson Malola, W. Maroun","doi":"10.1080/10291954.2019.1647937","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10291954.2019.1647937","url":null,"abstract":"This paper develops a measure for integrated report quality and explores possible drivers of high-quality reporting considering a sample of large listed companies in 2015 and 2016. Data are collected from South Africa where integrated reporting has been established for a number of years and where companies have had the time to interpret and apply reporting guidelines. A detailed content analysis is used to construct a quality measure representing an accumulation of different indicators from the environmental and sustainability reporting literature. The quantity of information disclosed, the emphasis placed on different disclosures and the use of quantitative or qualitative disclosures are considered. Whether disclosures are substantive or symbolic and how easy it is for stakeholders to interpret integrated reports based on the use of infographics is also taken into account when gauging report quality. The results show that, while integrated reporting has become well established in South Africa, there is considerable room for improvement. Most disclosures are qualitative and symbolic rather than quantified and substantive. A combination of Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U-tests shows that companies with higher quality integrated reports are those which invest in complementing their integrated reports with a sustainability report and having their disclosures externally assured. Company size, environmental and social impact, the use of a sustainability committee and compliance with the Global Reporting Initiative do not necessarily influence report quality. These findings suggest that, as integrated reporting matures, external factors contribute less to the quality of reporting and internal processes become more relevant.","PeriodicalId":43731,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Accounting Research","volume":"33 1","pages":"114 - 144"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2019-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10291954.2019.1647937","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49233426","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-05-04DOI: 10.1080/10291954.2019.1638589
Cecileen Greeff
The corporate effective tax rates (ETRs) of South African firms listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) were examined for the period 2009 to 2017 to determine if there were any changes over this period. The study further investigated the determinants of the corporate ETRs at firm level for the same firms. Determinants which could possibly affect the ETR were identified based on theories established as well as firm characteristics, such as size, leverage, capital and inventory intensity, and profitability. Panel data of 38 firms (342 firm-years) were obtained from the IRESS database in respect of these variables. The data were then analysed using the random effect model. Empirical results indicate that the corporate ETRs of South African JSE-listed firms do not differ considerably from the corporate statutory tax rate. Although the findings show that more profitable and capital-intensive firms engage in tax strategies that result in lower ETRs, only a small portion of the variance in ETRs can be explained. In general, it can be concluded that the levying of corporate income tax in South Africa appears to be fairly neutral and tax incentives are not significantly influential on the corporate ETR.
{"title":"Corporate effective tax rates: An exploratory study of South African listed firms","authors":"Cecileen Greeff","doi":"10.1080/10291954.2019.1638589","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10291954.2019.1638589","url":null,"abstract":"The corporate effective tax rates (ETRs) of South African firms listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) were examined for the period 2009 to 2017 to determine if there were any changes over this period. The study further investigated the determinants of the corporate ETRs at firm level for the same firms. Determinants which could possibly affect the ETR were identified based on theories established as well as firm characteristics, such as size, leverage, capital and inventory intensity, and profitability. Panel data of 38 firms (342 firm-years) were obtained from the IRESS database in respect of these variables. The data were then analysed using the random effect model. Empirical results indicate that the corporate ETRs of South African JSE-listed firms do not differ considerably from the corporate statutory tax rate. Although the findings show that more profitable and capital-intensive firms engage in tax strategies that result in lower ETRs, only a small portion of the variance in ETRs can be explained. In general, it can be concluded that the levying of corporate income tax in South Africa appears to be fairly neutral and tax incentives are not significantly influential on the corporate ETR.","PeriodicalId":43731,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Accounting Research","volume":"33 1","pages":"113 - 99"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2019-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10291954.2019.1638589","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46510558","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-05-04DOI: 10.1080/10291954.2019.1638588
Corlia Janse van Vuuren, L. Bruwer, Annari Muller
A traditional student-support approach to Accounting, which involved tutoring and case-study-based independent learning, was redesigned to create a Four-dimensional Accounting Student Support (FASS) programme. The redesign was necessitated by continued poor module success rates, low graduation rates and limited engagement in teaching environments by postgraduate Accounting students, in spite of various support strategies. The FASS programme creatively considered the four dimensions of student-support programmes, namely, Operations, Academic assistance, Content, and Feedback. The redesigned programme was implemented for “at-risk” postgraduate students near graduation, with a specific focus on enhancing their academic performance and refining their personal attributes and skills for success. This article explains the design of the FASS programme and the results from the first implementation cycle. Improvements in academic success were noted, as were promising signs of the development of personal attributes and skills such as self-confidence, emotional resilience and how to move beyond content learning to understanding. Significant, and almost unexpected, was the obvious change in participants’ attitudes after being given the opportunity to take ownership of their learning. This evaluation study provides insight into one initiative to redesign student-support in the complex field of Accounting, though further research and debate are needed to refine such initiatives.
{"title":"The nature and preliminary outcomes of a Four-dimensional Accounting Student Support (FASS) programme","authors":"Corlia Janse van Vuuren, L. Bruwer, Annari Muller","doi":"10.1080/10291954.2019.1638588","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10291954.2019.1638588","url":null,"abstract":"A traditional student-support approach to Accounting, which involved tutoring and case-study-based independent learning, was redesigned to create a Four-dimensional Accounting Student Support (FASS) programme. The redesign was necessitated by continued poor module success rates, low graduation rates and limited engagement in teaching environments by postgraduate Accounting students, in spite of various support strategies. The FASS programme creatively considered the four dimensions of student-support programmes, namely, Operations, Academic assistance, Content, and Feedback. The redesigned programme was implemented for “at-risk” postgraduate students near graduation, with a specific focus on enhancing their academic performance and refining their personal attributes and skills for success. This article explains the design of the FASS programme and the results from the first implementation cycle. Improvements in academic success were noted, as were promising signs of the development of personal attributes and skills such as self-confidence, emotional resilience and how to move beyond content learning to understanding. Significant, and almost unexpected, was the obvious change in participants’ attitudes after being given the opportunity to take ownership of their learning. This evaluation study provides insight into one initiative to redesign student-support in the complex field of Accounting, though further research and debate are needed to refine such initiatives.","PeriodicalId":43731,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Accounting Research","volume":"33 1","pages":"77 - 98"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2019-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10291954.2019.1638588","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41504093","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-01-02DOI: 10.1080/10291954.2018.1558808
Riette Zulch Lombard, L. van Heerden
The South African Value-Added Tax Act, 89 of 1991 does not contain any explicit place of supply rules to determine the jurisdiction where a cross border supply of services should be taxed, except in respect of foreign electronic service providers. Inferred place of supply rules are however interwoven into various provisions of the VAT Act. The OECD developed a set of recommended rules to determine the place of taxation for cross border supplies of services and intangibles. This serves as a reference point for jurisdictions when implementing their VAT legislation, and are described in Chapter 3 of the OECD’s International VAT/GST Guidelines. The primary objective of this article is to determine whether the inferred place of supply rules in the VAT Act are in harmony with the aforementioned recommended rules in the OECD Guidelines in respect of various scenarios of cross border supplies of consulting services. The conclusion is that the inferred place of supply rules in the VAT Act are not in harmony with the recommended rules in the OECD Guidelines in all scenarios of cross border supplies of consulting services. Recommendations are made how the VAT Act can be amended to bring the aforementioned inferred place of supply rules in harmony with the OECD’s recommended rules. This article however does not consider whether the OECD Guidelines are appropriate for developing countries such as South Africa and accordingly, whether South Africa should adopt the recommended rules as proposed in the OECD Guidelines. The recommended changes should thus only be considered if it is found that the OECD model is, in fact, appropriate for South Africa.
{"title":"South African Value-Added Tax: Place of supply rules for cross border supplies of consulting services","authors":"Riette Zulch Lombard, L. van Heerden","doi":"10.1080/10291954.2018.1558808","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10291954.2018.1558808","url":null,"abstract":"The South African Value-Added Tax Act, 89 of 1991 does not contain any explicit place of supply rules to determine the jurisdiction where a cross border supply of services should be taxed, except in respect of foreign electronic service providers. Inferred place of supply rules are however interwoven into various provisions of the VAT Act. The OECD developed a set of recommended rules to determine the place of taxation for cross border supplies of services and intangibles. This serves as a reference point for jurisdictions when implementing their VAT legislation, and are described in Chapter 3 of the OECD’s International VAT/GST Guidelines. The primary objective of this article is to determine whether the inferred place of supply rules in the VAT Act are in harmony with the aforementioned recommended rules in the OECD Guidelines in respect of various scenarios of cross border supplies of consulting services. The conclusion is that the inferred place of supply rules in the VAT Act are not in harmony with the recommended rules in the OECD Guidelines in all scenarios of cross border supplies of consulting services. Recommendations are made how the VAT Act can be amended to bring the aforementioned inferred place of supply rules in harmony with the OECD’s recommended rules. This article however does not consider whether the OECD Guidelines are appropriate for developing countries such as South Africa and accordingly, whether South Africa should adopt the recommended rules as proposed in the OECD Guidelines. The recommended changes should thus only be considered if it is found that the OECD model is, in fact, appropriate for South Africa.","PeriodicalId":43731,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Accounting Research","volume":"33 1","pages":"21 - 40"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2019-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10291954.2018.1558808","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45909871","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-01-02DOI: 10.1080/10291954.2019.1600236
Terry Tu, M. Turner
This research paper seeks to answer the question: What tax or combination of taxes knowledgeable individuals think the South African government can use as a potential source of revenue to fund the proposed National Health Insurance? The research methodology adopted is of an exploratory interpretive nature as it deals with the opinions of respondents. This methodology is well suited to the research process as the goal is to obtain and explore knowledgeable individuals’ opinions on what they perceive to be the best tax or combination of taxes which can be used as a potential source of revenue to finance the National Health Insurance fund. The method initially comprised a normative study, focusing on a literature review, the results of which were then used to create a self-developed questionnaire. This research aims to contribute to the body of knowledge which the South African government can consider when making a decision on a tax or combination of taxes as a possible method of financing. A sample of 91 people consisting of 40 tax practitioners (44%), 33 academics (36.2%) and 18 economists (19.8%) were asked to complete the questionnaire. The resultant data were subjected to various statistical analysis methods, including factor analysis, Kruskal-Wallis tests and Cluster analysis. The results reveal that (a) an increase in Value-Added tax is perceived as being justifiable, fair and efficient, while (b) an increase in taxes on individuals or an introduction of payroll taxes is not. The respondents suggest that funds be ring-fenced for National Health Insurance as this will increase accountability and prevent the funds from being expropriated during the budgetary process.
{"title":"Tax as an option to fund the proposed National Health Insurance fund: What do knowledgeable individuals think?","authors":"Terry Tu, M. Turner","doi":"10.1080/10291954.2019.1600236","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10291954.2019.1600236","url":null,"abstract":"This research paper seeks to answer the question: What tax or combination of taxes knowledgeable individuals think the South African government can use as a potential source of revenue to fund the proposed National Health Insurance? The research methodology adopted is of an exploratory interpretive nature as it deals with the opinions of respondents. This methodology is well suited to the research process as the goal is to obtain and explore knowledgeable individuals’ opinions on what they perceive to be the best tax or combination of taxes which can be used as a potential source of revenue to finance the National Health Insurance fund. The method initially comprised a normative study, focusing on a literature review, the results of which were then used to create a self-developed questionnaire. This research aims to contribute to the body of knowledge which the South African government can consider when making a decision on a tax or combination of taxes as a possible method of financing. A sample of 91 people consisting of 40 tax practitioners (44%), 33 academics (36.2%) and 18 economists (19.8%) were asked to complete the questionnaire. The resultant data were subjected to various statistical analysis methods, including factor analysis, Kruskal-Wallis tests and Cluster analysis. The results reveal that (a) an increase in Value-Added tax is perceived as being justifiable, fair and efficient, while (b) an increase in taxes on individuals or an introduction of payroll taxes is not. The respondents suggest that funds be ring-fenced for National Health Insurance as this will increase accountability and prevent the funds from being expropriated during the budgetary process.","PeriodicalId":43731,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Accounting Research","volume":"33 1","pages":"1 - 20"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2019-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10291954.2019.1600236","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47739540","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-01-02DOI: 10.1080/10291954.2019.1600237
C. Thiart
In line with current international sentiment which promotes greater transparency, the King Committee on Corporate Governance in South Africa updated its corporate governance framework through the issue of the King IV Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa, which replaced the King III Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa with effect 1 April 2017. The King IV Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa now specifically includes the formulation of a tax policy and strategy within the ambit of responsibilities of the board of directors and states that the organisation’s tax policy must be ‘transparent’ and ‘responsible’. The objective of the study was threefold: Firstly, to develop a tax reporting framework that incorporates the principles of good tax governance to ensure transparent and responsible tax policies and practices in South Africa. Secondly, to use the developed tax reporting framework to measure the tax reporting performance of the 50 largest Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE)-listed organisations in South Africa. Thirdly, to produce a holistic and strategic methodology for South African organisations to employ as a standard and pragmatic approach that incorporates the responsible and transparent tax policy requirements of the King IV Report on Corporate Governance. The study commences with a literature review of established international trends on good tax governance, continues by aligning these international trends with principles from the King IV Report on Corporate Governance for the South African context and concludes with descriptive statistics to measure the performance of South African JSE-listed organisations against these trends. It was found that less than half of the 50 largest JSE-listed organisations comply with more than 50 per cent of the disclosure criteria as recommended by international practice on good tax governance. Only 25 per cent of organisations complied with 65 per cent or more of the disclosure criteria. Of such organisations, 75 per cent are primarily listed on a stock exchange other than the JSE with a secondary listing on the JSE. It is evident that most primarily listed JSE-listed organisations do not meet international criteria of good tax governance. It is therefore submitted that the presented methodology may contribute to South African governance literature.
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Pub Date : 2019-01-02DOI: 10.1080/10291954.2019.1596559
R. Nel, N. Wesson
Background: The anticipated change in tax regime in South Africa during 2012 provided the opportunity to investigate the role of taxes in affecting corporate payout behaviour. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate whether dividend declarations were accelerated or postponed during 2012 for a sample of companies listed in South Africa based on the financial years 2009 to 2015. Methods: Firstly, a mixed model analysis of variance was employed to investigate the trend in mean days-to-declaration of final and interim dividends and whether the days-to-declaration of dividends in 2012 differed significantly from other years. Secondly, an investigation at individual company level was performed to gain an insight into the timing of declarations before and after 1 April 2012, the non-declaration of dividends during 2012 and special dividends during 2012. Results: For final dividends findings do not suggest an acceleration or postponement during the 2012 financial years of companies selected. For interim dividends, a significant increase in the days-to-declaration during 2012 was noted (indicative of a postponement during 2012). An investigation at individual company level of interim dividend declarations before and after 1 April 2012 furthermore supports a tax explanation for the postponement noted during 2012. Non-declarations of dividends and special dividends during 2012 were not noted as being utilised for the postponement or acceleration of dividends during 2012. The findings of this study contribute to dividend policy literature by providing empirical evidence that the timing of interim dividend declarations was adjusted in the year of an anticipated tax reform.
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