- March 18, 2024
Legal Counsel Publications – Find a Guide – Customs and Excise
18 March 2024 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964
- March 18, 2024
Legal Counsel – Interpretation and Rulings – Published Binding Rulings – Value-Added Tax Rulings (VRs) – VR 1–20
18 March 2024 – Value-Added Tax Act, 1991: Publication of VAT Rulings 006, 007, and 008, relating to Apportionment.
- March 18, 2024
Tax Directives software update two pot retirement system
18 March 2024 – To facilitate the upcoming two-pot retirement system changes, SARS will be making enhancements to the Tax Directives process. The changes are detailed in IBIR-006 Tax Directives interim Interface Specification Version 6.701. Once the law has been promulgated, an updated version of the Interface Specification will be made available. SARS will also communicate trade testing dates in due course.
- March 18, 2024
SARS Online Query System Enhancement
18 March 2024 – In keeping up with the continuous SARS Online Query System (SOQS) enhancements, the SOQS External Guide has been updated as follows:
- The ‘Submit supporting documents’ and ‘Report new estate case’ queries have been updated in line with the latest system enhancements.
- The following new queries have been included in the guide:
- Request for Auto Assessment status: This enables the taxpayers to query whether they are part of the SARS Auto Assessment population or not.
- Submit an LBI query: This enables the taxpayers registered at the Large Business and International (LBI) or High Net Worth (HNW) to direct their queries to LBI or HNW.
- March 18, 2024
Third Party Data Annual Submissions
18 March 2024 – The SARS Third Party Data Annual Submissions process for the period 1 March 2023 – 29 February 2024 opens on 1 April 2024 and will close on 31 May 2024.
For more information, see the Third Party Data Submission Platform webpage.
- March 15, 2024
Customs Weekly List of Unentered Goods
15 March 2024 – Customs Weekly List of Unentered Goods
- March 15, 2024
Legal Counsel – Secondary Legislation – Tariff Amendments 2024
15 March 2024 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: Publication details for tariff amendment notices R4511, R4512, R4513, and R4514, as published in Government Gazette 50296 on 15 March 2024, are now available.
- March 14, 2024
Legal Counsel – Secondary Legislation – Tariff Amendments 2024
14 March 2024 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: The tariff amendments notices, scheduled for publication in the Government Gazette, relate to the amendments to –
- Part 3 of Schedule No. 2, by the substitution of safeguard items 260.03/7318.15.41/01.08; 260.03/7318.15.42/01.08 and 260.03/7318.16.30/01.08 to include imports originating in or imported from the Republic of the Philippines to be subject to safeguard duties with a rate of 48,04% on threaded fasteners of iron or steel (excluding those of stainless steel and those identifiable for aircraft) – Minute 11/2023 (with effect from 15 March 2024 up to and including 23 July 2024);
- Part 3 of Schedule No. 2, by the substitution of safeguard items 260.03/7318.15.41/01.08; 260.03/7318.15.42/01.08 and 260.03/7318.16.30/01.08 to include imports originating in or imported from the Republic of the Philippines to be subject to the safeguard duties of a rate of 46,04% on threaded fasteners of iron or steel (excluding those of stainless steel and those identifiable for aircraft) – ITAC Report 715 (with effect from 24 July 2024 up to and including 23 July 2025);
- Part 3 of Schedule No. 2, by the substitution of safeguard items 260.03/7318.15.41/01.08; 260.03/7318.15.42/01.08 and 260.03/7318.16.30/01.08 to include imports originating in or imported from the Republic of the Philippines to be subject to the safeguard duties of a rate of 44,04% on threaded fasteners of iron or steel (excluding those of stainless steel and those identifiable for aircraft) – ITAC Report 715 (with effect from 24 July 2025 up to and including 23 July 2026); and
- Part 1 of Schedule No. 1, by the substitution of tariff subheadings 1701.12, 1701.13, 1701.14, 1701.91, and 1701.99, to increase the rate of customs duty on sugar from free of duty to 140.91c/kg in terms of the existing variable tariff formula – ITAC Minute 13/2023 (15 March 2024).
Publication details will be made available later
- March 11, 2024
Customs – Registration, Licensing and Accreditation
11 March 2024 – The facility codes used in Box 30 on the Customs Clearance Declaration (CCD) have been updated to include the details of the new approved container depot – Trans Modal Logistics South Africa in Durban.
- March 8, 2024
Excise payment and submission dates for 2024/2025
8 March 2024 – Excise Duty/Levy payment and submission dates for 2024/2025 have been published.
- March 8, 2024
Legal Counsel – Legal Counsel Publications – Find a Guide – Income Tax
8 March 2024 – Income Tax Act, 1962
- March 7, 2024
PAYE Employer Reconciliation BRS for the 2025 tax year
7 March 2024 – PAYE Employer Reconciliation BRS for the 2025 tax year was published.
The changes include:
- New source code (3926) for the Withdrawal from a Retirement Fund from the Savings Component/Pot
- Amendment of descriptions and/or validation rules for:
- Unclaimed benefits (source code 3909)
- Certificate Number (source code 3010)
- Directive Number (source code 3230)
- Directive Income Source Code (source code 3232)
- Transfer of Unclaimed Benefits (source code 3923)
- NED Directors / Audit Committee Member Fees (source code 3620/3670)
The submission dates:
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- Interim: 16 September – 31 October 2024
- Annual: 1 April – 31 May 2025
- March 6, 2024
Legal Counsel – Dispute Resolution & Judgments – Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) 2025–2023
6 March 2024 – Tax Administration Act, 2011
Search and seizure – Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011 (the TAA) – interpretation – sections 59(1) and 60(1) – execution of a warrant against third parties on premises identified in the warrant – section 61(3)(a) of TAA – permits search of anything on the premises identified in the warrant including motor vehicle parked on the premises on suspicion that it contains material relevant to the taxpayer.
- March 6, 2024
Legal Counsel – Dispute Resolution & Judgments – High Court 2025–2023
6 March 2024 – High Court Judgments
- BP Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd v CSARS (2021/49805) [2024] ZAGPPHC 160 (1 March 2024)
- CSARS v J Company (14944/19) [2024] ZAWCHC 63 (29 February 2024)
- Finequest Enterprise (Pty) Limited v CSARS (008272/22) [2024] ZAGPPHC 170 (26 February 2024)
- Dorking Africa (Pty) Ltd v CSARS (A141/2022) [2024] ZAGPPHC 30 (25 January 2024)
Summaries are available on the High Court judgments page
- March 6, 2024
Legal Counsel – Dispute Resolution & Judgments – Tax Court 2025–2023
6 March 2024 – Income Tax Act, 1962, and Tax Administration Act, 2011
Transfer pricing – arm’s length price adjustment: Whether appellant may appeal against an increased assessment imposed on it by the respondent.
- March 6, 2024
Legal Counsel Publications – Average Exchange Rates
6 March 2024 – Income Tax Act, 1962: Average Exchange Rates
- Table A – A list of the average exchange rates of selected currencies for a year of assessment as from December 2003
- Table B – A list of the monthly average exchange rates to assist a person whose year of assessment is shorter or longer than 12 months
- March 6, 2024
Tax Directives involuntary transfer before retirement
6 March 2024 – Paragraph 2(1)(c) of the Second Schedule to the Act regulates the amount to be included as gross income for any year of assessment in respect of any amount transferred for the benefit of a member of a retirement fund on, or after normal retirement age, (as defined in the rules of the fund), but before the member elects to retire from that retirement fund, minus any deductions allowed under paragraph 6A of the Second Schedule to the Act.
Prior to 1 March 2022, paragraph 6A of the Second Schedule to the Act allowed the full value of the amounts transferred for the following transfers as deductions, resulting in these transfers taking place on a tax neutral basis:
- Transfers from a pension fund into a pension preservation fund, provident preservation fund, or a retirement annuity fund; and
- Transfers from a provident fund into a pension preservation fund, a provident preservation fund, or a retirement annuity fund.
From 1 March 2022, Paragraph 6A of the Second Schedule to the Act also allowed for transfers into a similar fund by a member of a pension preservation or provident preservation fund (who has reached normal retirement age in terms of the fund rules but has not yet opted to retire from the applicable preservation fund). As a result, these individual transfers would also take place on a tax neutral basis.
To ensure parity among members of retirement funds who are subject to an involuntary transfer — and who have reached normal retirement age in terms of the fund rules, but have not yet opted to retire from the fund — the following changes have been made in the Act:
- Such individuals can have their retirement interest in that pension fund or provident fund transferred to another pension fund or provident fund without incurring a tax liability.
- The value of the retirement interest, including any growth, will remain ring-fenced and preserved in the receiving pension or provident fund until the member retires from that fund. This means that these members will not be entitled to the payment of a withdrawal benefit in respect of the amount transferred.
If a member has reached retirement age, but has not opted to retire and is subject to an involuntary transfer, follow these application steps:
- Go to Find a Form
- Print Forms A and D from the SARS website.
- Manually complete all required fields and select Transfer Before Retirement (Par 2[1][c]) as a reason for the directive.
- Manually edit (scratch out) the transferee type so that the only options are either a Pension Fund or a Provident fund.
Email the completed Tax Directive application to [email protected] with the subject line, “Involuntary Transfer Before Retirement (Par 2[1][c]) Form A&D.
Processing time will be up to the standard 21 days.
- March 5, 2024
Customs Weekly List of Unentered Goods
5 March 2024 – Customs Weekly List of Unentered Goods
- March 4, 2024
Tax workshops for North West province
4 March 2024 – The tax workshop schedules for North West province during March are now available.
- March 4, 2024
Media release – SARS welcomes High Court decision on BPSA
4 March 2024 – The Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service (SARS), Mr Edward Kieswetter, welcomed the High Court decision, which dismissed an application for leave to appeal by British Petroleum of South Africa (BPSA) to review the Commissioner’s decision to refuse its refund claims and levy forfeiture under the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA).
In the same matter, the High Court also referred to trial BPSA’s review of the Commissioner’s further decision, taken in terms of section 88(2)(a)(i) of the Customs and Excise Act, 1964 (Act 91 of 1964), to levy payment in lieu of forfeiture on the allegedly exported fuel.
BPSA argued that the High Court should have referred the appeal on the Commissioner’s Customs determination to trial as well. The High Court refused this request on the basis that there was no dispute of facts on matters of Customs determination but only on forfeiture.
The High Court’s decision of last week Thursday, is a sequel to its earlier judgement of 12 January 2024 where it dismissed BPSA’s appeal under section 47(9)(e) of the Customs and Excise Act against determinations made under the Act by the Commissioner.
Those determinations were that BPSA did not qualify for refunds of duty paid on fuel that BPSA says was exported to Zimbabwe. This is so because BPSA cannot prove that fuel was exported to Zimbabwe, nor can it identify the consignee who received the export delivery in Zimbabwe.
Commissioner Kieswetter expressed his satisfaction that the court has provided legal certainty and clarity on how SARS should deal with ghost exports. He said: “SARS has had to deal with this phenomenon of phantom exports with attendant costs to the fiscus, resulting in underserved refunds.” SARS is working very hard to assist taxpayers to meet their legal obligations and facilitate trade. However, it will make it hard and costly for taxpayers who are engaged in non-compliant behaviour. “This will be pursued without fear, favour or prejudice,” he concluded.
More information on the High Court judgments webpage:
Whether applicant’s (BP), leave to appeal against judgment of 12 January 2024 may be granted – application for leave to appeal dismissed with costs, including the costs of two counsel, where employed, see also BP Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd v CSARS (2021/49805).
For further information, please contact [email protected]