Since 2015, foreign suppliers of electronic services (such as audio-visual content, e-books etc.) in South Africa are deemed to operate an enterprise for VAT locally. Although the regime has been in place for several years, new regulations in this regard
Recent court case on the imposition of understatement penalties
The Supreme Court of Appeal (“ZASCA”) delivered a judgment[1] on 26 February 2019 on the imposition of understatement penalties as provided for in the Tax Administration Act[2]. In this case, the taxpayer paid provisional income tax (“IT”) of R13.8 million
Zero-rating of services to non-residents
South African value-added tax (VAT) vendors are often unsure of the tax consequences of issuing invoices to foreign customers or clients and whether such services should be invoiced at the standard rate of 15% or be zero-rated. As is generally
Form requirements for objections
Dispute resolution with the South African Revenue Service (SARS) generally has a two-pronged approach. Firstly, taxpayers must present their case on the merits – this will include the factual basis and background that has led to the dispute. Secondly, and equally
Helpful tax resources
South African taxes are inherently complex and often involve interpretation, consulting and in exceptional cases, a fair amount of educated guessing on exactly what the legislature intended when the various acts were drafted. However, in order to assist taxpayers through
Correction of tax invoices
Since it is illegal to issue more than one tax invoice per taxable supply, and another tax invoice may not be issued to alter any consideration in respect of an original tax invoice issued, the Value-Added Tax Act[1] prescribes very
Valid Tax Invoice Requirements for VAT Vendors
When making a purchase for your business, you should always ensure you receive a valid VAT invoice. This enables you to claim input VAT from SARS. With the change in VAT rate from 14% to 15%, VAT has come under
VAT Increase and Accounting Systems
As you are aware, the National Treasury announced an increase in Value Added Tax (VAT) from 14% to 15% effective 1 April 2018. We urge you to ensure that your accounting systems are set up to process transactions at the
Withdrawal of VAT relief for residential property developers
Section 18B of the Value-Added Tax Act[1] was introduced effective 10 January 2012 in a bid to grant relief for residential property developers caused by the slump in the property market at that time. Many property developers, registered for VAT,
Vat and transfer duty
We are often asked whether the sale or purchase of immovable property is subject to VAT or to transfer duty. Confusion appears to creep in especially in those cases where only either the seller or purchaser is a registered VAT