Mazars in South Africa
Taxation master class

Taxation for farmers and farming operations 

The taxation of farming operations is subject to a unique and detailed set of tax rules. All annual tax returns require that income from farming operations and relevant expenses be disclosed separately so that SARS can easily assess whether the specific tax rules have been adhered to.
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This module should be completed by all staff that has farming clients. 
Course features
  • Author: Diane Seccombe
  • Verifiable CPD: 4.5
  • Level: Advanced
Certification included
After completing this module and meeting the necessary exit level requirements, you will be issued with a certificate of completion containing all the necessary information regarding this module. The certificate will be issued automatically by Mazars Academy Online.

What you are going to learn

A few more words about this course

Many farmers carry on farming operations in their own name. Due to the new legislation applicable on the death of a taxpayer and specifically the impact this has on farmers, an understanding of the new legislation is essential to ensure proper tax planning can be done. This master class will assist you in obtaining a thorough understanding of the specific tax rules for farming and the impact of other relevant tax legislation. 
The following topics are discussed in this e-learning module:

  • Tax consequences of housing farming operations and farmland in separate tax entities.
  • Detailed look at the First Schedule, including problem areas like the meaning of “farming operations” vs the letting of farmland; Produce held in a “wine-pool” or co-op and closing stock; ring-fencing the cost of livestock and limitation of capital development expenditure and recoupments.
  • Other relevant tax allowances.
  • Ring-fencing of assessed losses from farming operations.
  • Consequences of the purchase and sale of farming operations to ensure tax efficiency.
  • Death of a farmer: Deemed disposal rules and effect of holding livestock.
  • Death of a farmer: The effect of unutilised capital development expenditure.
  • Death of a farmer: The cost of inherited livestock and assets and relevant allowances; and game farmers.
  • Value added tax for farmers.
  • The diesel rebate.

Explore the module
content below:

Please note that this course was primarily developed for the Upskill platform and subsequently repurposed for the the Mazars Academy Online platform. You will therefore notice Upskill branding on each video recording. Please note that this module is still appropriate for Mazars in South Africa. 

Course contents

Course Facilitator 

Diane Seccombe

National Head of Taxation 
Diane Seccombe is an admitted attorney with a masters degree in taxation. She has over 15 years of experience with taxation. Diane is currently the National Head of Taxation at Mazars Academy and in this capacity provides tax training to professional institutes, banks, financial service providers and financial planners. She is also well known amongst students for her tax lectures at post graduate level. Diane consults on income tax matters including, corporate, individual and international tax and is an expert in VAT.
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