Navigating Independent Contractor Criteria: Insights from the Post-COVID-19 Era

Mmatshepho Ngwenya () and Siphamandla Makhaya ()
Additional contact information
Mmatshepho Ngwenya: University of Johannesburg
Siphamandla Makhaya: University of Johannesburg

A chapter in Embracing Technological Agility in Accounting and Business – Vol. 2, 2026, pp 187-200 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract The classification of workers as either independent contractors or employees has significant tax implications under South African income tax law. Employers are required to withhold employees’ tax from payments to employees but not from independent contractors. The Fourth Schedule to the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 provides statutory tests, including the premises and control or supervision tests, to determine independent contractor status. However, the shift to remote work during and after the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the applicability of these tests, leading to uncertainty for taxpayers and employers. This study evaluates whether these statutory tests, specifically the premises and supervision or control tests, remain relevant post-pandemic and compares South Africa’s approach with those of the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. The study uses a qualitative approach, an interpretative paradigm, and a doctrinal research method to address the research objective. The study finds that the current statutory tests may need revision to align with evolving work models. The study recommends policy adaptations to reflect post-pandemic work realities, ensuring tax legislation remains practical, including reclassifying the premises and control or supervision test from statutory test to elements of the dominant impression test. This suggested reclassification would allow for a better balancing of various factors in the dominant impression test rather than relying on conclusive tests that lack flexibility in responding to workplace changes.

Keywords: Common law; Control or supervision; COVID-19; Independent contractor; Premises test; Statutory test (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:prbchp:978-3-032-13384-7_14

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783032133847

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-13384-7_14

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().