Legal and Policy - 7 October 2021

SARS:

• 6 October 2021 – A businessman who used false tax invoices in the calculations of VAT Output and Input tax was sentenced to five years direct imprisonment for fraud this week. See the media release: Businessman gets 5-year jail term for VAT fraud.
• 5 October 2021 – RFP31/2021: Appointment of a General Building contractor for the provision of office space and turnkey fit-out for SARS Kosi Bay office, located at the KwaZulu Natal/Mozambique Border Post.
• 5 October 2021 – Dear Traders and Travellers, SARS invites you to join a webinar discussion on Illicit Trade and Counterfeit Procedures. SARS as an agency of government is concerned about the rate of illicit trade activities as well as handling procedures on counterfeit commodities. Illicit trade activities have such a negative impact on the country’s economy. The national lock-down has worsened the illicit trade and counterfeiting trends, resulting in job losses in our communities and financial losses to legitimate businesses.

The details of the event are as follows:

Theme: Illicit Trade and Counterfeit procedures
Date: Thursday, 7 October 2021
Time: 17:00 – 19:00
Livestream on YouTube: https://youtu.be/oS3JjLohOHE

If you have questions on Illicit trade and counterfeit procedures, please email Questions@sars.gov.za.

• 4 October 2021 – Extension notification: RFP11/2021Request for proposals for the appointment of a qualified service providers for the provision of integrated hygiene and specialised cleaning, waste management, pest control and gardening services at SARS offices.
• 4 October 2021 – An updated e@syFile Employer version 7.1.7 was released. The changes are:

• An updated version of the EMP501 Form that includes Covid Relief allowances on ETI
• Correction to wording for error messages related to source code 7007
• Correction to manual capture validation of tax directives for tax years 2021 and older
• Correction to the IRP5/IT3a “View” button that was deactivated under specific circumstance
• Adjustment to manual capture validation related to commas in demographic fields to align with import and pre-submission validation
• Adjustment to submission process where users incorrectly selected a future period and deregistration reason and date
• Adjustment to layout of ETV report to allow feedback on up to five Tax Directives as specified in the SARS PAYE BRS V 20
• Correction to the IT Registration process to allow users to select “IT Reg” from the employee demographics page
• Adjustment to EMP501 submission files to ensure that cents/decimals are excluded for Tax Directive values

• 1 October 2021 – Income Tax Act, 1962: Status overview of all DTAs and Protocols – Multilateral Convention to implement tax treaty related measures to prevent base erosion and profit shifting (MLI) Synthesised Texts
• 1 October 2021 – RFP 0008/2021: Appointment of a service provider for the provision of the Tax Technician Qualification Level 6
• 30 September 2021 – The acquittal process of bonded and transit goods has been enhanced. The information previously published in SC-TR-01-02 and SC-TR-01-03 has been inserted in SC-CF-54 and SC-CF-55 respectively, if it is still relevant to the new acquittal process.

Customs will, on a risk based approach, stop goods that are in bond or in transit through South Africa and request supporting documents. A Documentary Inspector will forward the case for a physical inspection. The case will then be conditionally released. Proof that the goods were exported from South Africa or has left the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) must be uploaded by the declarant to the case within thirty (30) days.

The completion of declaration manual (SC-CF-04) and its annexures have been re-numbered and is included as annexures in the external clearance declaration policy (SC-CF-55). The Facility Code List SC-CF-04-A08 has been renumbered as SC-CF-19-A02 and incorporated into the external registration, licensing and designation policy (SC-CF-19).

The printing of CN1 and CN2 at land-border posts are no longer part of the process.

The annexures are attached to external policies.

See the updated documents:

• SC-CF-19 – Registration Licensing and Designation – External Policy

• SC-CF-55 – Clearance Declaration – External Policy
• · SC-IT-03 – RLA Customs Trader Portal – External Guide

• 30 September 2021 – The Reporting of Conveyances of Goods External Policy has been updated. This revision includes the Number plate recognition (NPR) cameras. Number plate recognition (NPR) cameras will mark trucks for arrival or exit at land border-posts where the system has been rolled out. The reporting of conveyances and goods process has been updated to include the NPR process. Where the NPR cameras are not installed the gate-in and gate-out process must still be followed by the Customs Officer.

SC-CC-38 – Reporting of Conveyances and Goods – External Policy

• 30 September 2021 – Tax Directives: Trade Testing Dates and Software Implementation

SARS will introduce enhancements to the Tax Directives process as indicated in the IBIR-006 Tax Directives Interface Specification Version 6.202. The Trade Testing dates are 25 October 2021 – 22 November 2021 in order to prepare for the go-live date planned for December 2021. The exact date will be communicated closer to the time. For more information, click here.

• 30 September 2021 – SARS today released trade statistics for August 2021 recording a preliminary trade balance surplus of R42.40 billion attributable to exports of R158.92 billion and imports of R116.52 billion.

See the full Media Release here.

Or visit the Trade Statistics webpage here.

• 29 September 2021 – The Mobile Tax Unit schedules have been updated. See under Eastern Cape – October 2021
• 29 September 2021 – Updated Customs weekly list of unentered goods

TREASURY:

• Media Statement: Draft Regulations on Domestic Reverse Charge on Valuable Metals – 6 October 2021
• Draft EM: Draft Regulations on Domestic Reverse Charge on Valuable Metals – 6 October 2021
• Draft Regulations: Domestic Reverse Charge on Valuable Metals in Terms of Section 74 of the Value-Added Tax Act – 6 October 2021
• Provisional Financing Figures as at 30 September 2021 – 4 October 2021
• Joint Media Statement: NT and SASRIA – 4 October 2021
• National Treasury Annual Report 2020/2021 – 1 October 2021

OECD:

• Global Forum Secretariat hosts virtual workshop on effective use of data from automatic exchange of information - 5 October 2021
• Andorra, Namibia and Spain take further steps to strengthen their tax treaties – 30 September 2021
• Global Forum Secretariat holds workshop on concept of foreseeable relevance – 29 September 2021

TAX OMBUD:

• Media Release: Tax Ombud Celebrates 8 Years of Fairness by Intensifying Taxpayer Rights Awareness

ATAF:

• ATAF TA: Office Togolais des Recettes assisted with property tax – 5 October 2021
• African Women in Leadership: ATAF Women in Tax Network gears up for leadership conference – 1 October 2021