Van Den Berg, Trisha2018-06-052018-06-052017Van Den Berg, Trisha (2017) A comparative study of the understatement penalties levied, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <https://hdl.handle.net/10539/24591>https://hdl.handle.net/10539/24591Thesis (M.Com. (Taxation))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Accountancy, 2017The Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011 is the most recent complete tax act to guide tax administration in South Africa and came into operation on 1 October 2012. The changes in the penalty regime in South Africa was that the understatement penalties, in sections 222 and 223 of the Tax Administration Act, replaced the additional tax that was previously levied in terms of section 76 of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962. Understatement penalties are levied when a taxpayer understates his tax payable for a particular tax period. The understatement penalties are jointly determined by the behaviour of the taxpayer and other objective criteria that are listed in a table contained in section 223(1) of the Tax Administration Act. The report will focus on comparing the understatement penalties levied in South Africa and comparing it with understatement penalties levied in the United States of America (USA), Australia (AUS) and the United Kingdom (UK). The comparison will be used to determine how the understatement penalties are imposed in different cases and to determine if there are improvements that can be made to the current understatement penalties levied in South Africa. Keywords understatement penalty; understatement; behaviour; conduct; penalty; Tax Administration Act, United States of America (USA); United Kingdom (UK); Australia (AUS); South Africa (SA)Online resource (53 leaves)enTaxation--Law and legislation--South AfricaTaxpayer compliance--South AfricaTax penalties--Law and legislation--South AfricaA comparative study of the understatement penalties levied