What’s New at SARS

22 December 2023 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: Publication details for tariff amendment notice R4212, as published in Government Gazette 49937 of 22 December 2023, are now available.

21 December 2023 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: The tariff amendment notice, scheduled for publication in the Government Gazette, relates to the amendments to –

• Part 1 of Schedule No. 1, by the substitution of tariff subheading 7314.39, to increase the general rate of customs duty on coated welded wire mesh from 5% to 15% – ITAC Report 709.

Publication details will be made available later

20 December 2023 – The latest Awarded tenders list was published by SARS Procurement.

14 December 2023 – RFP25/2023: Provision of medical surveillance, immunization and related services for a period of 48 months

14 December 2023 – Binding Private Rulings

• Binding Private Ruling 403 – Taxation of covered persons in respect of equity linked notes
• Binding Private Ruling 402 – Transfer of long-term insurance business to a local branch of a foreign reinsurer
• Binding Private Ruling 401 – Leasehold improvement allowance

14 December 2023 – Income Tax Act

• Binding Private Ruling 400 – Donations tax implications on the issue of shares at nominal value to enhance BBBEE credentials

14 December 2023 – As part of the Customs Modernisation Programme, a Mobi Application for South African Traveller Management System (SATMS) has been implemented as another method to access the online Traveller Declaration. Travellers can now use the SATMS Mobi Application to register or create a profile, complete and submit travelling declarations. A separate guide has been developed for navigating the SATMS Mobi-App and the existing SATMS documents were updated.

• SC-PA-01-12 – SATMS Through the SARS Website – External Guide
• SC-PA-01-13 – SATMS Through the Mobi-App and QR Code Scan – External Guide
• SC-PA-01-11 – Traveller Processing – External Policy

14 December 2023 – RFP30/2023: Appointment of a service provider for the provision of Digital Forensics Review Platform software solution

14 December 2023 – The Clearance of Continuous Transmission Commodities document has been updated to correct the legal reference and to remove the reference to CCA1 as the form has been previously withdrawn.

Updated policy:

• SC-CF-58 – Clearance of Continuous Transmission Commodities – External Policy

14 December 2023 – 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 depots:

• AT – Grindrod Logistics, Durban (Buff Road);
• AS – Grindrod Logistics, Durban; and
• AR – DHL Global Forwarding SA (Pty) Ltd, (Kempton Park) Johannesburg.

Updated external annexure:

• SC-CF-19-A02 – Facility Code List – External Annexure

14 December 2023 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: Publication details for tariff amendment notices R4191 and R4192, as published in Government Gazette 49862 of 14 December 2023, are now available.

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

• Part 1 of Schedule No. 1, by the substitution of various subheadings under Chapter 72, in order to increase the rate of customs duty on certain coated or plated flat-rolled steel from free of duty to 10% – ITAC Report 631; and
• Part 2 of Schedule No. 4 by the insertion of a temporary rebate provision under rebate item 460.15 in order to provide for certain coated or plated flat-rolled steel products that are not manufactured locally – ITAC Report 631.

Publication details will be made available later

13 December 2023 – The Kariega (Uitenhage) branch office is offline until further notice. Taxpayers are encouraged to make an appointment to visit the nearest branches, i.e. Gqeberha Office.

12 December 2023 – Customs Weekly List of Unentered Goods

12 December 2023 – Income Tax Act

• Binding Private Ruling 399 – Asset-for-share transaction and replacement asset

11 December 2023 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964

• Draft amendments to rules (and related forms) under sections 21, 60 and 120 – Fuel levy goods

Due date for comment: 12 January 2024

11 December 2023 – The estimated assessment functionality has now been implemented for VAT. If a vendor does not provide the relevant material requested by SARS during the VAT verification process, SARS may raise an estimated assessment in terms of section 95(1)(c) of the Tax Administration Act. Please note the following regarding estimated assessments:

• The details of the estimated assessment can be viewed on the notice (VAT217) issued to the vendor.
• A Request for Correction will not be allowed if SARS has raised an estimated assessment for VAT in the same period.
• If the vendor does not agree with the estimated assessment, the required relevant material must be submitted within 40 business days from the date of the VAT217 notice that was issued.
• The vendor can submit the outstanding relevant material via eFiling, at a SARS branch or through the SARS Online Query System (SOQS).
• The vendor may Request for Extension if the relevant material cannot be submitted within 40 business days.
• If the Request for Extension is approved, the vendor will have up to the date of extension or five (5) years plus 40 business days to submit the relevant material.
• The vendor will be allowed to submit a Request for Suspension of Payment if the estimated assessment results in an amount payable for the period stipulated in the VAT217 notice issued.
• The vendor will not be allowed to submit a Notice of Objection (NOO) as an estimated assessment issued in terms of section 95(1)(c) is not subject to dispute.

See the following updated external guides:

• GEN-PEN-05-G02 – Guide to submit a Dispute via eFiling – External Guide
• GEN-ELEC-04-G01 – Guide to completing the Value Added Tax VAT201 Declaration – External Guide

11 December 2023 – As from the 2023 year of assessment, taxpayers are required to complete the section for “Local Assets (at Market Value)” on the Individual Income Tax Return (ITR12) if the value of their local assets is in excess of R50 million. Many taxpayers have contacted SARS seeking clarity on whether the asset value declared on the ITR12 return needs to be supported by a professional valuation.

It is not compulsory to obtain professional valuations to complete the market value of the local assets. SARS will accept a market value that is a reasonable best estimate, in other words, an estimate as close as possible to the market value of the particular asset. For more information, please refer to the comprehensive guide below.

The updated external guides are:

• IT-AE-36-G05 – Comprehensive Guide to the ITR12 Income Tax Return for Individuals – External Guide
• IT-AE-36-G06 – Guide to submit your Individual Income Tax Return via eFiling – External Guide

8 December 2023 – The drawback claims can now also be submitted using the EDI channel.  The channel is currently available for Customs only. The SC-CF-55-A09 – Customs Status Response Messages – External Annexure has been updated to include the new Customs response messages (CUSRES) for the drawbacks using the EDI channel.

The refunds and drawback external guide (SC-DT-C-19) has been updated with a new process to use and complete the Comma Separated Value (CSV) file instead of capturing the information on eFiling.  The CSV file templates have been created for ease of use by the traders:

• SC-DT-C-13-A15 – DA64 CSV Template – External Annexure
• SC-DT-C-13-A16 – DA 63 CSV Template – External Annexure
• SC-DT-C-13-A17 – Excise With Export CSV Template – External Annexure
• SC-DT-C-13-A18 – Excise Non Export CSV Template – External Annexure

The Allocation Code for the DA 66 external annexure (SC-DT-C-13-A06) has been updated to include the code for the foodstuff manufacturers.

New Customs supporting document codes have been added to SC-CF-55-A11 – Supporting Document Codes – External Annexure and declarants must use the codes when uploading the supporting documents to a goods declaration, refund or drawback case.

The SC-CF-55-A05 – Country and Currency Codes – External Annex has been amended to reflect the official currencies used in the Republic of Belarus to Belarusian Rubie (BYN).

The updated policies and guide can be accessed through the following links:

• SC-DT-C-19 – Refunds and Drawbacks – External Guide
• SC-DT-C-13 – Refunds and Drawbacks – External Policy
• SF-CF-55 – Clearance Declaration – External Policy

For more information, see the Clearance Declaration webpage and the Customs Refunds and Drawbacks webpage.