The title of the winning thesis is “A conceptual framework for evaluating the tax burden of individual taxpayers in South Africa”. Prof Riel Franzsen, Director of the African Tax Institute, was the supervisor of the study and the co-supervisor was Prof Madeleine Stiglingh, Head of the Department of Taxation.

Norton Rose is a leading commercial law firm who, together with their co-sponsor, the South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA), has established the national Tax Thesis Competition. This competition is now in its fifth year with the object of promoting research in the subject of taxation, growing the database of tax knowledge, contributing to the debate and development of tax policy and highlighting the role of tax in the economy in South Africa.

Students of the Department of Taxation have done exceptionally well in this competition in the past. Theuns now joins previous winners of the doctoral category from the University of Pretoria, namely Elzette Muller (2011) and Prof Madeleine Stiglingh (2010), in promoting the University as a leader in tax research in the country. Students from UP have also been the winners of the master’s category in 2009 and placed second in the master’s category in 2010 and 2011.

The Department of Taxation is a fairly young department, which celebrated its 10th anniversary during 2012. The recent research success of the Department shows that taxation is maturing in to a credible academic discipline in South Africa with its focus stretching beyond the conventional emphasis on professional education.

Theuns and the Department will receive a prestigious award at a gala function in Sandton on 6 December 2012.