[16 April 2014] National Treasury notes in a press release that the growth and development of electronic services raises many complex issues, and hence that traditional tax (both indirect and direct) and regulatory measures may not be as effective in meeting their objectives as they for traditional goods and services. There is a need to modernise current governmental processes to better incorporate technological innovations in the electronic services sector and to ensure that South Africa keeps abreast with international developments in this area, and is competitive.

Treasury will therefore be initiating a consultative process to develop a comprehensive paper on the treatment of electronic services, particularly in the area of financial sector regulation, payment systems and taxation, as well as to consider measures to better protect customers. Any suggestions by interested parties on these topics will be welcome and should be addressed to ingrid.goodspeed@treasury.gov.za