What’s New at SARS

22 September 2023 – This communication is intended to inform you of the extension of the submission date for electronic registration to the Diesel Refund for Food Manufacturers Scheme (DRFMS). Initially scheduled for 26 September 2023, the rollout date has been extended to 29 September 2023. The South African Revenue Services (SARS) has opted to perform additional testing and quality assurance measures to ensure an effective implementation of the digitalised and streamlined electronic registration system for this new refund scheme.

For more information, see our letter to Trade.

22 September 2023 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: Publication details for tariff amendment notices R3903, R3904, R3905, R3906, R3907, R3908 and R3909, as published in Government Gazette 49328 of 22 September 2023, are now available.

22 September 2023 – Achieving our Vision 2024 of a smart, modern SARS with unquestionable integrity that is trusted and admired is of paramount importance. Pivotal to the delivery of our vision are our digital platforms & technology infrastructure. To provide clarity & certainty, make it easy for taxpayers & traders to comply with their obligations and building public trust and confidence, our technology assets have to demonstrate the highest levels of availability, robustness and security.

In accordance with our Vision and Strategic Objectives, which include modernising our systems to provide Digital and Streamlined online services, we are hard at work ensuring that our digital platforms & technology infrastructure are available, robust & secure, by performing regular upgrades, enhancements, and maintenance.

Considering the above, SARS Digital platform upgrades are scheduled for Friday, 22 September 2023 from 18:00 to 22:00.

During this time, you may experience intermittent service interruption on our eFiling Platform.

22 September 2023 – Customs Weekly List of Unentered Goods

21 September 2023 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: The tariff amendment notices, scheduled for publication in the Government Gazette, relate to the following amendments:

With effect from 22 September 2023

• Part 2 of Schedule No. 4, by the insertion of rebate item 460.15/7312.10.40/01.08, in order to create a rebate provision for the importation of steel cord of a kind used in the manufacture of steel cord-reinforced conveyor belting, classifiable in tariff subheading 7312.10.40 – ITAC Report 701
• Schedule No. 5, by the substitution of Notes 8, 11, 12 and 13 to provide for specific drawbacks and refunds of customs duties paid on imported fuel levy goods upon the subsequent export or removal thereof to Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia (BELN)
• Part 2 of Schedule No. 5, by the substitution of Note 5(a), the insertion of Note 8 as well as the insertion of refund items 522.07 and 522.07/00.00/01.00 to provide for specific drawbacks and refunds of customs duties paid on imported fuel levy goods upon the subsequent export or removal thereof to Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia (BELN)
• Part 4 of Schedule No. 5, by the substitution of Note 1, the insertion of Notes 3, 4 and 5 as well as the insertion of refund items 541.00 and 541.00/00.00/01.00 to provide for specific drawbacks and refunds of customs duties paid on imported fuel levy goods upon the subsequent export or removal thereof to Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia (BELN)
• Part 1 of Schedule No. 1, by the insertion of tariff subheadings 8207.13.27 and 8207.19.15 as well as the substitution of tariff subheadings 8207.13.25 and 8207.19.10, in order to increase the rate of customs duty on certain drilling or earth boring tools, including certain parts thereof, from free of duty and 15%, respectively to 20% – ITAC Report 708

With retrospective effect from 14 June 2023

• Part 1 of Schedule No. 2, by the deletion of item 206.04/3207.40/02.06, in order to terminate the anti-dumping duty on glass frit originating in or imported from Brazil – Minute 14/2022

With retrospective effect from 1 April 2023

• Part 2 of Schedule No. 4, by the substitution of rebate item 460.03/0207.14.9/01.07, in order to increase the annual quota for frozen bone-in cuts of the species Gallus Domesticus originating in or imported from the United States of America from 71 632 tonnes to 71 963 tonnes – ITAC Minute M04/2023

Publication details will be made available later

21 September 2023 – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) confirms that a fire broke out at its branch in Rissik Street, Johannesburg, yesterday.

All staff and taxpayers were immediately evacuated and no one incurred any serious injuries. The fire was successfully extinguished due to the prompt and efficient response by fire Rescue services.

As a result of the fire, SARS has suspended its services at the Rissik Street Branch and will provide services virtually. Taxpayers are urged to book an appointment for assistance via the SARS Website at www.sars.gov.za. Those who want to visit our offices, can make an appointment to visit either Randburg or Alberton branches. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.

SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter thanked the fire and medical emergency personnel who assisted in containing the damage and treating those affected.

The cause and extent of the fire is unknown at this stage and will be investigated.

For further information please contact SARS at [email protected]

20 September 2023 – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has noted the media report of 17 September 2023 by the Sunday Times concerning the detention of five vessels involved in the fuel bunkering supply chain.

From 2016 SARS has been engaging with the fuel industry to encourage compliance with the legislation concerning the importation, the trading in and other operational activities of vessels engaged in the supply of fuel.

Alongside these engagements, SARS has also been conducting investigations around compliance in fuel bunkering, and the detention of the vessels mentioned in the media article is part of this on-going investigation.

SARS confirms that several vessels were detained in terms of the Customs and Excise Act, 91 of 1964. This was done in the normal course of investigating whether the provisions of the Act have been contravened. SARS is of the view that the detention is lawful and, as the investigation is ongoing, no decision to seize such vessels has been taken.

SARS Commissioner Mr Edward Kieswetter said “SARS is obliged to administer the law fairly, without fear, favour or prejudice and to conduct investigations in a responsible manner in accordance with a fair procedure. SARS has no interest in jeopardising economic growth nor of contributing to the problem of unemployment, poverty and inequality.”

The Commissioner implored taxpayers and traders to comply with their tax and Customs obligations. He emphasised that SARS will not hesitate to act firmly and robustly to ensure that non-compliance is hard and costly for those that wilfully and intentionally ignore their obligations. The clarion call to all taxpayers and traders is: “comply or face the consequences”.

For further information, please contact [email protected]

20 September 2023 – The SARS branch in Rissik street, Johannesburg CBD, will be closed from this afternoon until further notice. All virtual appointments will still be honoured. Our apologies for the inconvenience.

19 September 2023 – RFP15/2023: Appointment of a service provider for the provision of events management services for ATAF and BRICS events

• Briefing presentation

18 September 2023 – The registration and payment of Air Passenger Tax have been enhanced.

The related guides have been updated:

• APT-02-Air Passenger Tax – External Policy
• APT-03 – Air Passenger Tax – External Guide
• SC-CF-19 – Registration Licencing and Designation – External Policy
• SC-CF-19-A01 – Documentary Requirements – External Annexure
• SC-CF-19-A03 – Exemption from Ad Valorem Excise Licence and Payment – External Annexure
• SC-CF-19-A04 – Joint Ad Valorem Excise Licence – External Annexure

For more information, see the Air Passenger Tax webpage.

18 September 2023 – The third-party data reporting process needs Representative Taxpayers or their representatives to report the required ITR12T information via the IT3-01 and IT3-02 forms. Representative Taxpayers or their representatives can view and correct the data or certificates that was submitted to SARS on request.

SARS requests that Section 18A approved entities (e.g., Government, Government Institutions, Public Benefit Organizations (PBO), or United Nations Agencies) who received donations and issued tax deductible receipts to Donors are to report those receipts to SARS.  If a receipt was issued, then it should be reported to SARS.

The related documents pertaining to these processes have been updated. Additionally, a new guide on how to manage the submission of IT3 third party data has been developed.

• GEN-ENR-01-G01 – Guide for the Submission of Third-Party Data using the Connect Direct channel – External Guide
• GEN-ENR-01-G02 – Guide for the Submission of Third-Party Data using the HTTPS Channel – External Guide
• GEN-ENR-01-G03 – Guide for the Submission and Declaration of IT3 Third-Party Data via eFiling – External Guide
• GEN-ENR-01-G10 – Manage Submission of IT3 Third Party Data – External Guide

18 September 2023 – e@syFile version 7.4.0 was released.

18 September 2023 – Enhancements to the Tax Directives system have been successfully implemented in line with the ‘IBIR-006 Tax Directives Interface Specification Version 6.505. We appreciate your continued support in our endeavour to provide clarity & certainty and make it easy for taxpayers and traders to fulfil their obligations whilst ensuring safe & secure digital platforms, we continuously maintain and enhance our systems.

Thank you to those who assisted us with the Trade Testing for this solution, your participation and cooperation is valued.

For more information, see the I want a Tax Directive webpage.

15 September 2023 – Prior to 1 March 2023 a member of a retirement annuity fund could only transfer all the contracts / policies in that retirement annuity fund to only one other retirement annuity fund.

With effect from 1 March 2023 the definition of “retirement annuity fund” was amended to provide a member with more than one contract / policy in a retirement annuity fund can now transfer one or more of these contracts / policies to another approved retirement annuity fund, subject to the following conditions:

• The transfer value of the member’s interest must exceed R371 250 per contract / policy. Therefore, the value of each contract / policy must be equal to or more than R371 250 to be able to split the transfer to multiple approved retirement annuity funds. If any of the contracts / policies value is less than R371 250 the member cannot transfer to more than one retirement annuity fund.
• If the total member’s interest is not transferred, the amount remaining in the retirement annuity fund must exceed the amount of R371 250.

The monetary restriction of R371 250 will not be applicable per transferring contract / policy when the member’s entire interest in one retirement annuity fund is transferred to another retirement annuity fund (i.e. not transferred to more than one retirement annuity fund).

Tax directive system and application forms enhancements

Form C retirement annuities

• The tax directive system and the Form C tax directive application form was enhanced to allow up to four contract/policy to be transferred to multiple approved retirement annuity approved funds.
• The tax directive system will reject a tax directive application if:
  • The amount to be transferred is split in such a way that the value of each contract/policy does not exceed R371 250; and/or
  • The remaining amount in the retirement annuity fund does not exceed the amount of R371 250, in circumstances where the member’s vested interest is not transferred in full.

Recognition of Transfer (ROT) decline message

A significant number of ROT’s are outstanding. Therefore, some of the ROT rejection error messages have been updated to provide more detail as to why the ROT submission was rejected, to help the Fund Administrators and Long-term Insurers to better understand the reason for the rejection and to assist in the submission of the ROT’s.

The following Guides and Forms were updated:

Guides:

• IT-AE-41-G02 – Guide to Complete the Lump sum Tax Directive Application Forms – External Guide
• IT-AE-41-G03 – Guide to Complete Submit and Cancel a Recognition of Transfer – External Guide

Forms:

• FORM-AD – Request for Tax Deduction Directive Pension and Provident Funds – External Form
• FORM-B – Request for Tax Deduction Directive Pension and Provident Funds – External Form
• FORM-C – Request for Tax Deduction Directive Retirement Annuity Funds – External Form
• FORM-E – Tax Deduction Directive After Retirement and Death Annuity Commutations – External Form
• IRP3(a) – Application for Tax Directive Gratuities – External Form
• IRP3(c) – Application for Tax Directive Fixed Amount – External Form
• IRP3(q) – Variation of Employees Tax – External Form
• IRP3(s) – Application for Tax Directive Share Option – External Form
• NR03 – Tax Directive Application by Non Resident Seller of Immovable Property in SA – External Form
• ROT01 – Recognition of Transfer Between Approved Funds – External Form
• ROT02 – Recognition of GN18 Purchase of Member or Beneficiary Owned Pension or Annuity – External Form

15 September 2023 -DA66 Automation

The Customs and Excise Refunds and Drawbacks have been automated and the application must be made on an electronic form on eFiling.  For assistance on the process read SC-DT-C-19 –Refunds and Drawbacks–External Guide.

15 September 2023 – The following enhancements have been implemented for the PAYE Interim Filing Season:

• There are no new source codes added, however there are minor changes to certain field types and validations;
• Enhancements to IRP5 certificates;
• Enhancements to Employment Tax Repository;
• EMP201 returns for suspended (s-coded) employers;
• Enhancements to EMP501 Reconciliation;
• Section 95 estimates.

Updated external guides:

• PAYE-AE-06-G06 – Guide for Codes Applicable to Employees Tax Certificates 2024 – External Guide
• PAYE-AE-06-G07 – Guide for Validation Rules Applicable to Reconciliation Declarations 2024 – External Guide
• PAYE-AE-06-G08 – Guide for Completion and Submission of Employees Tax Certificates 2024 – External Guide
• EMP-GEN-02-G01 – A Guide to the Employer Reconciliation Process – External Guide

15 September 2023 – SARS’ aim is to record all beneficial owners of registered Trusts in order to comply with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) requirements. In this regard, certain information must be submitted via e-Filing. These documents may include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following:

• An organogram, illustrative, or schematic diagram depicting effective control of the Trust. Where the Beneficial Ownership is in the form of other legal arrangements or legal entities, this should be provided in a separate attachment.
• An Excel spreadsheet containing the above information; or
• Such other document(s), which will elaborate on Beneficial Ownership in relation to the Trust.

When capturing the beneficial ownership information, it is mandatory for the current year’s return that at least one document be submitted that relates to beneficial ownership information. In the event there are more than 20 beneficial owners, the taxpayer must upload a supporting document that reflects the additional beneficial owner(s).

All minutes, excluding those dealing with internal trustee governance arrangements and/or administrative matters, must be submitted.

IT-AE-36-G02 – Comprehensive Guide to the Income Tax return for Trusts – External Guide

15 September 2023 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: Publication details for tariff amendment notices R3885 and R3886, as published in Government Gazette 49313 of 15 September 2023, are now available.

15 September 2023 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: Publication details for rule amendment notice R3884, as published in Government Gazette 49313 of 15 September 2023, are now available.

15 September – SARS Payment Rules Guide has been updated to include African Bank and Bank Zero for payments that can be made via Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) into to the SARS public beneficiaries listed on the banking platform. With effect from 15 September 2023, Air Passenger Tax (APT) payments will only be allowed on eFiling.

• GEN-PAYM-01-G01 – SARS Payment Rules – External Guide