Legal and Policy - 10 February 2022

SARS:

• 9 February 2022 – We invite all Small Medium and Macro Enterprises (SMME’s ) who are operating cross-border, to visit the newly established SMME Traders and Travellers webpage. This new webpage can be found through the secondary menu on the following webpages: Business & Employers, Small Businesses – Taxpayers, Customs & Excise, Travellers as well as Excise. This webpage aims to provide relevant information for SMME Traders and Travellers in a simplified and easily accessible manner. The SMME Traders and Travellers Team is doing a wide range of work including education, outreach, research, surveys and service improvements. The page will be utilised to update on the progress and outcomes of these activities. In order to make this page more relevant, informative, interesting and exciting, SMME Traders and Travellers are encouraged to send their suggestions to the email address provided under “Need Help?” as this will assist the team to improve further.
• 9 February 2022 – Please note that the submissions platforms for both Secure File Gateway and Connect:Direct will be temporarily offline for planned maintenance between 20:00 on Saturday 12 February and 02:00 on Sunday 13 February 2022.

Please do not submit any files in the Production or Test environments during this time, as they will not be received or processed. Files already in the system will be paused and will continue processing upon conclusion of the maintenance.

• 9 February 2022 – Updated list of awarded tenders has been published.
• 9 February 2022 – RFP38/2021: Appointment of the qualified service provider (s) for the provision of destruction and disposal of Customs goods for SARS nationally

• 8 February 2022 – Customs & Excise Act, 1964: Draft Schedule Amendment

Draft amendment to Part 1D of Schedule No. 6 – Insert Note 10 in order to align with the similar corresponding refund provisions of malt beer and other fermented beverages. Due date for public comment: 9 March 2022

• 8 February 2022 – The Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) Webinar has been postponed until further notice due to the State of the Nation Address (SONA) scheduled for 10 February 2022.

The webinar was designed to provide current and potential traders with information on how to clear goods at various ports with minimal Customs intervention and obtain accreditation that allows access to the International Trade Community.

We recognize that the SONA should take precedence due to its critical importance to the government, citizens, and SARS.

The new webinar date and registration process will be announced in due course. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience.

• 8 February 2022 – Customs Weekly List of Unentered Goods
• 4 February 2022 – The 2022 payment dates for Excise Duty including Ad Valorem, Beer, Fuel, Wine, Vermouth & other fermented beverages, Spirits, Traditional African Beer, Tobacco and Environmental Levy products were published, see the Excise Duty Levy payment and submission dates webpage.
• 3 February 2022- The schedules for Mobile Tax Units have been published. See under Mpumalanga province, February and March 2022.

• 2 February 2022 – The Customs Division of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) made three seizures at the OR Tambo International Airport of catalytic converters and crushed powder from the core of a catalytic converter, valued at R21-million. The crushed powder extracted from the core of a catalytic converter is contributing to a new drug craze. See the full media statement here.

OECD:

• Webinar: Save the date and register for live OECD Tax Talks - 21 February 2022
• Register: OECD Tax and Development Days 2022 - 16 February 2022 - 17 February 2022
• Lesotho, Thailand and Viet Nam sign landmark agreement to strengthen their tax treaties - 9 February 2022
• OECD launches public consultation on the tax challenges of digitalisation with the release of a first building block under Pillar One - 4 February 2022
• Ten years of capacity building to advance tax transparency: landmark Global Forum report highlights successful activities - 3 February 2022