Evaluating incentives in the tax legislation applicable to the South African oil, petroleum and gas industry

Abstract

The oil and gas sector holds several advantages for South Africa: direct benefits include providing growth in the country’s economy by optimising available oil and gas resources and minimising dependence on foreign oil and gas exporting countries, while indirect advantages include fiscal rewards to the government, technological and infrastructural improvement, as well as benefits to society. However, the country’s oil and gas reserves are minimal in relation to several other countries worldwide, which is not beneficial for oil and gas ventures. Therefore, in the aim of promoting investment in the oil and gas sector of South Africa, attraction should be reached by other means, such as an alluring regulatory environment, in order to compensate for these poor reserves. Given the characteristics of South Africa’s oil and gas industry position, the research conducted in this study aimed to determine whether the tax legislation in South Africa provides sufficient incentive to oil and gas companies to compete for international investment in this industry. This was done by performing a literature review to establish the use, harmful effects and characteristics of meaningful tax incentives. The incentives contained in South Africa’s oil and gas tax environment were evaluated, based on the above–mentioned characteristics supplemented by a comparison of other countries, to determine whether the incentives can competitively attract investment to the country’s oil and gas sector. Based on the results of the analysis conducted, it is concluded that the Tenth Schedule of the Income Tax Act No. 58 of 1962 and the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Royalty Act No. 28 of 2008 currently applicable to the oil and gas sector contain several tax incentives which adhere to the identified characteristics of meaningful tax incentives, which should enable South Africa to lure investment to the country’s oil and gas sector. Nonetheless, it is contemplated that the total cost package to oil and gas investors should be considered as other tax–related costs such as Black Economic Empowerment and potential carbon emission tax costs deters oil and gas investment.