Abstract
Prior to the Arena Holdings case, one’s right to privacy extended to such person’s tax information held by SARS. The Arena Holdings case brought changes to the long-standing principle that a taxpayer’s information should be preserved and protected against access by third parties. The dissertation deals with the judgment of Arena Holdings, the significance, and implication of the judgment to existing tax laws that relate to access of tax records by a third party.
The dissertation also looks at an important concept of ‘public interest’ which is extensively discussed, being the main reason for the court’s findings in Arena Holdings case. The right to information and privacy and their importance are also discussed. Most importantly, limitation of rights in the bill of rights and the manner in which limitation may be constitutionally implemented, is extensively discussed.
The dissertation also gives recommendations to the legislature on how to deal with the order of the court, declaring sections of the Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011 and Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 unconstitutional. Furthermore, the research also shows how other jurisdictions manage tax information held by tax collection authorities. Also discussed in the dissertation, is whether South African should adopt approaches from such jurisdictions or not.