CCC14-2025 Business on the move 

Thursday, 13th November 2025

14:00 - 16:00

Mobility has redefined how business works — and how it’s taxed, governed, and assured.

The rise of hybrid work, global teams, digital nomads, and cross-border service models has blurred the lines between where a business operates and how it’s regulated. For accounting practitioners, CFOs, and advisors, this evolving environment presents both opportunity and risk — from tax exposure and compliance complexity to ethical blind spots and control challenges.

Join Caryn Maitland CA(SA) and Carmen Westermeyer CA(SA) as they unpack how the mobility revolution impacts your clients and your practice. Through the lens of tax, legislation, accounting, assurance, and ethics, this session will help you navigate the new realities of a borderless workplace and ensure your business stays compliant — and credible — wherever it operates.

Key takeaways:

• Understand how digital mobility changes tax residency, PAYE, and cross-border risk.

• Explore governance and ethical challenges in remote work models.

• Identify assurance and control weaknesses in decentralised environments.

• Learn how to advise clients on sustainable and compliant remote policies.

• Gain insight into emerging local and global trends, including data protection, employment law, and ESG implications.

“Business on the Move” — because your clients, employees, and data no longer stay still.

Duration: 2 hours (split roughly 2:1 between tax and non-tax perspectives)

Format: Interactive presentation with case studies and polls

Presenters:

Carmen Westermeyer CA(SA) — Taxation & Cross-Border Mobility

Caryn Maitland CA(SA) — Accounting, Assurance, Legal & Ethical Implications

Part 1: Setting the Scene — The Mobile Business Era

(Joint introduction)

What “mobility” means in the context of business today.

From hybrid offices to global contractors and nomadic professionals.

How post-pandemic trends and technology continue to reshape business structure.

Overview of the 360° analytical framework (Tax | Law | Accounting | Assurance | Ethics).

Part 2: Tax Implications of Mobility (Carmen)

1. Employee mobility and tax residency

• Determining tax residency for employees and employers.

• PAYE, source-based taxation, and double taxation agreements (DTAs).

• The 183-day test and foreign remuneration exemptions (updated 2025 context).

• Practical examples of South Africans working abroad or remotely for SA entities.

2. Permanent Establishments (PE) and cross-border risk

• Updated OECD guidance on remote work and PEs.

• When remote employees create a taxable presence in another jurisdiction.

• Case law developments (e.g., AB LLC and BD Holdings LLC v CSARS revisited).

3. Employer obligations and reporting

• Fringe benefits and allowances in a hybrid environment (updated to reflect current SARS guidance).

• Home office deductions: evolving SARS position and practical enforcement issues.

• Payroll compliance where staff operate outside jurisdiction.

• Tax implications of virtual service delivery and electronic commerce (VAT on digital services, foreign supplier registration thresholds).

4. Practical insights and policy implications

Structuring policies to manage risk and compliance.

How tax, HR, and legal teams should collaborate to oversee mobility frameworks.

Part 3: Beyond Tax — The Governance, Accounting, and Assurance Lens (Caryn)

1. Legal and regulatory perspectives

• Employment law: hybrid and remote work contracts, “place of work” clauses, and enforceability.

• Companies Act implications — including the concept of “external companies” and corporate presence.

• Cross-border service delivery and data protection duties under POPIA, GDPR, and cybersecurity legislation.

2. Accounting & financial reporting considerations

• Recognition of costs and benefits of remote infrastructure (e.g., cloud subscriptions, leased assets, shared workspaces).

• Capitalisation vs. expense debates for technology and connectivity assets.

• Disclosure expectations under IFRS for SMEs and IFRS full (e.g., subsequent measurement, impairment, and presentation).

• Impacts on internal control environments and auditor assessment of “control effectiveness” in remote contexts.

3. Assurance, risk, and internal controls

• ISQM 1 and remote assurance functions — implications for small and mid-tier firms.

• How decentralised operations affect control monitoring and audit evidence reliability.

• Cybersecurity and data assurance concerns in remote operations.

4. Ethical and professional considerations

• Revisiting the IFAC Code in a mobile work context — integrity, confidentiality, and objectivity risks.

• Independence issues for practitioners advising both employer and employee in remote settings.

• Managing “trust at a distance”: ethics of supervision, oversight, and accountability.

5. Case study discussion

• A multinational SME employing hybrid teams in SA, UK, and Mauritius — analysing risks through the 360° model.

Part 4: Wrap-up and Practical Takeaways

• Summary of red flags and compliance watchpoints.

• Discussion: how practitioners can proactively advise mobile businesses.

• Key future trends (AI-enabled workforces, digital tax administration, ESG and mobility).