FROM THE PEN
The observation issue
In this issue, we ask shareholders if they know the full extent of their tax liability (page 10) and on page 14, Colin Sutherland takes us on an interesting journey around Ruusia, south east Asia and Europe as he gets down to the business of implementing IFRS in very diverse political and economic landscapes. Sutherland shares with us the difficulties and somewhat onerous challenges faced globally, but is significantly resolute when he says that IFRS is ‘part of the glue to help hold together and control the new global structures and processes that safeguard the wealth and savings of the citizens in this new world’.
What strikes me as ‘significant’ with this statement, as well as with the question asked of our shareholders, and the budget speech given by our Minister of Finance every year, is that the wealth of ordinary citizens, global or local, lies almost squarely in the hands of people and processes of which we know very little.
It is an awesome responsibility to know that what so ever we do, the processes we implement, and the standards we set, has an impact on pockets of society that often seem far removed from the world in which we work. So that, when we have new entrants to this world; new standards, new professionals, new strategies, new priorities and new guidelines, what we must not do is to lose sight of the link all this has with ordinary citizens. That we constantly observe the impact our work has on the very end user. Be that the shareholder, the MD, the trainee, the informal business owner or the ordinary citizen, whoever he or she may be.
Raina
Editor
ERRATUM
PKF/Pastel Tax Booklet insert: Page 3 table – correction to line 4 and 5
• R12 000+ 5,5% of the amount over R500 000
• R25 750 +7.5% of the amount over R750 000
