What’s New at SARS

31 July 2026 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: Draft amendments to Schedules

• Explanatory Memorandum – Elaborates on specific changes included in the amendment of the Schedules to the Customs and Excise Act, 1964.
• Draft amendment to Part 1 of Schedule No. 1, as a consequence to the amendment in Part 1 of Schedule No. 1
• Draft amendment to Part 2A of Schedule No. 1, as a consequence to the amendment in Part 1 of Schedule No. 1
• Draft amendment to Part 5A of Schedule No. 1, as a consequence to the amendment in Part 1 of Schedule No. 1, in order to implement HS 2022
• Draft amendment to Part 5B of Schedule No. 1, as a consequence to the amendment in Part 1 of Schedule No. 1
• Draft amendment to Part 1D of Schedule No. 6, to as a consequence to the amendment in Part 1 of Schedule No. 1
• Draft amendment in Part 1F of Schedule No. 6, to as a consequence to the amendment in Part 1 of Schedule No. 1
• Correlation table

Due date for comment: 29 August 2026

31 July 2026 – South Africa recorded a preliminary trade balance surplus of R17.8 billion in June 2026. This surplus was attributable to exports of R193.6 billion and imports of R175.8 billion, inclusive of trade with Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia (BELN).

See the full Media Release here.

Or visit the Trade Statistics webpage.

31 July 2026 – The Prohibited and Restricted Imports and Exports list was updated.

• Tariff heading 3402.90 is subject to detention by PHO.
• Tariff heading 0406.10 is subject to detention by State Vet, PHO, and the Border Management Authority (BMA).
• Tariff heading 3202.90 is subject to detention by PHO.
• Tariff heading 0801.12.10 must be detained for Port Health Officer (PHO) and the Border Management Authority (BMA) Plant Inspection unit. A permit issued by the Directorate: Food Import and Export Standards (DFIES) is also required.

30 July 2026 – National Legislation: Publication of 2026 draft bills and explanatory memoranda

• Draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill 2026
  • Draft Explanatory Memorandum on the Draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill 2026
• Draft Tax Administration Laws Amendment Bill 2026
  • Draft Memorandum on the Objects of the TALAB 2026

Due date for comment: 28 August 2026

29 July 2026 — The South African Revenue Service (SARS), working with the South African Police Service (SAPS) DPCI Serious Commercial Crime Investigations, has dealt a major blow to the illicit alcohol trade. SARS descended on a warehouse in Kempton Park, Gauteng, as part of its intensified crackdown on the illicit economy.

In a targeted enforcement operation on Wednesday, 29 July, SARS, along with SAPS, raided premises identified as a storage facility for imported ethanol (96% alcohol). The raid occurred as a consignment of the imported product was being delivered into the warehouse after having been declared to be destined for a country further north into Africa.

The consignment was imported by sea and declared to be in-transit and should have been removed directly through one of the Ports of Exit out of South Africa. The consignment, identified as one of four, is 26 000 litres of ethanol with an alcohol content of approximately 96%. It is the base product used to produce liquor products and generally attracts a duty-rate of R302.84/litre on the legitimate market. The duties and taxes due to SARS would have been around R9.1 million just for one consignment.

The joint team discovered the consignment being off-loaded at an unlicensed and unregistered facility into 1 000-litre flow-bins. The facility also had several other flow-bins on site and storage tanks, the contents of which must be tested, but which is suspected to contain a further 28 000 litres of ethanol.

This successful enforcement action is part of the broad SARS’s strategy to deal with the illicit economy that is having a devastating effect on the industry. The coordinated actions demonstrate SARS’s commitment to its strategic objective of making non-compliance hard and costly. SARS will continue to target the criminal syndicates involved in the illicit alcohol and liquor sectors. These syndicates exploit tax differentials by illegally diverting products and manufacturing illicit liquor.

Such schemes rob the fiscus of billions in revenue each year; illicit alcohol alone costs billions of rands in lost taxes annually. Beyond the revenue loss, the illicit alcohol trade undermines fair competition, as legitimate businesses cannot match the artificially low prices of untaxed liquor products. Illicit alcohol poses risks to consumers through substandard liquor quality.

SARS Commissioner Dr Johnstone Makhubu expressed his satisfaction with the operation’s success. He noted that this enforcement action is part of the government’s broader efforts to combat illicit economic activities and enhance compliance in critical sectors. “This initiative also aligns with SARS’s strategic goal of making non-compliance hard and costly through intelligence-led interventions aimed at customs fraud, excise-duty evasion, smuggling, and illegal trade”.

The illicit alcohol trade is not a victimless crime; it deprives our country of essential revenue needed for public services, undermines compliant businesses, and enriches criminal networks operating outside the law.

The Commissioner added that the operation demonstrates the value of coordinated enforcement between SARS, SAPS, and other government partners. “We will continue to strengthen our intelligence, customs, and investigative capabilities to detect diversion schemes, disrupt illicit trade, and ensure that those who seek to evade their tax and customs obligations are held accountable”.

SARS is committed to working with law-enforcement and regulatory partners to detect, disrupt, and dismantle illicit trade networks. “Those involved in customs fraud, excise-duty evasion, and other forms of illicit economic activity are put on notice”, the Commissioner said. “We will not surrender the destiny of this country to criminals or tolerate brazen alcohol smuggling and tax evasion. I commend the collective enforcement and teamwork by SARS, SAPS, and our other partners for their dedication and swift action”.

For further information, please contact [email protected].

END

29 July 2026 – The facility codes used in Box 30 on the Goods Declaration has been updated to include details of the container depot for United Container Depots (Pty) Ltd., located in Cape Town.

SC-CF-19-A02 – Facilities Code List – External Annexure

29 July 2026 – Value Added Tax Act, 1991

• SARSTC VAT 22498 (VAT) [2026] ZATC CPT (27 July 2026)

Value-Added Tax Act, 1991: Section 17(1), read with section 41B – whether the methodology used by SARS to apportion input tax was correct.

29 July 2026 – Selected SARS service centres will open on Saturdays to assist taxpayers with filing their Income Tax returns ahead of the Individual Filing Season deadline of 23 October 2026.

The table below provides the details:

28 July 2026 – A new scam wave is circulating via SMS and email, telling recipients they are owed a refund – in one case R48,900 – and directing them to a fraudulent website to claim it. If you receive it, please delete and block. If in doubt, email the SARS IT Security team at [email protected] or visit the Scams & Phishing webpage to see the latest scam examples.

SARS is noting with concern that the scammers are now using AI to generate professional-looking email templates that are harder to identify as fraudulent:

28 July 2026 – The Advance Import Payment documentation has been revised to align with amended Rule 120.13.02 that provides for an increase in the monetary threshold applicable to Advance Payment Notifications (APNs) from R50 000.00 to R100 000.00.

• SC-CC-33 – Advance Import Payments – External Guide
• SC-CC-42 – Advance Import Payments – External Policy

27 July 2026 – SARS and the Office of the Tax Ombud will be visiting the Pavilion Shopping Centre in Durban to assist taxpayers with tax related matters.

• Venue: Pavilion Shopping Centre, Durban, KZN, Fountain Court (next to Mugg & Bean)
• Date: Friday, 31 July and Saturday, 1 August 2026
• Time: 9:00 to 19:00

27 July 2026 – Employment Tax Incentive Act, 2013

• Interpretation Note 145 – Meaning of “employee’ for purposes of the Employment Tax Incentive Act

27 July 2026 – Employment Tax Incentive Act, 2013

• Guide to the Employment Tax Incentive (Issue 5)

27 July 2026 – Value-Added Tax Rulings

• VAT Ruling 023 – VAT Treatment of Educational Services
• VAT Ruling 022 – Enterprise

27 July 2026 – The South African Revenue Service will give you an opportunity to test the updated e@syFile™ Employer build before the formal release in mid- September 2026 for the Employer Interim Reconciliation.

The updated e@syFile™ Employer BETA version with enhanced features for download will be released on Monday, 24 August 2026, so that you can start testing immediately.

During the testing period from 24 August 2026 to 11 September 2026, all online functionalities will be disabled to prevent the incorrect submission of test data into the production environment. This means the application will default to offline mode. Certain menu options will also be disabled as a precautionary measure.

The Business Requirements Specification SARS_PAYE_BRS – PAYE Employer Reconciliation V25 3 0 for the Employer Interim Reconciliation submission period 202608 is available.

The BETA version of e@syFile™ encompasses the following:

• New source code for ITREG to mitigate duplicate Income Tax registration for employees.
• Minor amendments to source code validations and descriptions.

A link to give you access to test the software will be provided soon. Please note that this link is confidential and only available to selected employers. In order to maintain its confidential status, please exercise caution and do not share it with others.

SARS will analyse the feedback from the external testers during the test cycle. Please nominate a contact person with his or her contact details to act as a liaison with SARS.

Please send your consolidated feedback to the SARS support team at [email protected] on a daily basis. The team will log it with the relevant SARS development team members to update the software. The feedback will be used to determine the frequency at which updated versions of the test software will be released.

27 July 2026 – The state provides state warehouses for the safekeeping of goods. These are managed by Customs. The purpose of this list of unentered goods is to notify the importer, exporter and any other person that has interest in the goods that the goods have been taken up into the State warehouse and if they remain unentered they will be disposed in accordance with the provisions of the Customs & Excise Act.

See the latest Customs Weekly List of Unentered Goods here.

24 July 2026 – In the July 2026 edition, we share important updates affecting taxpayers, including reminders on scams and phishing, historical income tax assessment notifications, Auto Assessments, updated Filing Season 2026 guides, required online traveller declarations, and key changes affecting provisional taxpayers.

We encourage taxpayers to familiarise themselves with the latest developments, verify their information, use only official SARS channels, and meet their filing obligations on time.

24 July 2026 – The July 2026 edition provides updates for tax practitioners and clients, including tax-practitioner registration challenges, historical income tax assessment notifications, Filing Season 2026 developments, Auto Assessment enhancements, provisional taxpayer changes, and new SARS digital services.

We also remind taxpayers and practitioners to stay alert to scams and use only official SARS channels. This issue further covers the online traveller declaration requirements effective from 1 July 2026 and includes links to updated filing-season guides and resources.

24 July 2026 – The Limpopo mobile tax unit schedules for July and August 2026 are now available.

24 July 2026 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: Publication details for tariff amendments notices, R7739, R7740, and R7741, as published in Government Gazette 55065 of 24 July 2026, are now available.