SARS narrows an exclusion in Schedule 1 to match the customs rebate
This page records one dated change. For the rules in South Africa as they stand today, see the South Africa guide →
- Jurisdiction
- South Africa
- Tax
- VAT
- Change type
- Compliance
- Status
- In force
- Impact
- FYI
- Announced
- 14 August 2026
- Effective
- 14 August 2026
- Instrument
- ZA-R-7808
- Authority
- South African Revenue Service
- Systems
- Customs, Tax engine
- Verified
- Fetched from official source · high confidence
Importers relying on item 412.09/00.00/01.00 in paragraph 8 of Schedule 1 to the South African VAT Act.
Note the narrowed exclusion in Schedule 1 item 412.09: the carve-out now reads simply 'robbery or theft', aligning VAT with the Customs and Excise rebate item.
CustomsTax engine
SARS Notice R. 7808, published in Government Gazette No. 55190 (Vol. 734) on 14 August 2026, amends item 412.09/00.00/01.00 in paragraph 8 of Schedule 1 to the VAT Act 89 of 1991, aligning its further proviso with the corresponding rebate item in Part 1 of Schedule 4 to the Customs and Excise Act 91 of 1964 by removing the words 'a hostile act by a third party constituted by' before 'robbery or theft' in the exclusion clause. The substituted text reads: provided further that circumstances contemplated in this item exclude robbery or theft.
What changed in detail
SARS Notice R. 7808, published in Government Gazette No. 55190 (Vol. 734) on 14 August 2026, amends item 412.09/00.00/01.00 in paragraph 8 of Schedule 1 to the VAT Act 89 of 1991, aligning its further proviso with the corresponding rebate item in Part 1 of Schedule 4 to the Customs and Excise Act 91 of 1964 by removing the words ‘a hostile act by a third party constituted by’ before ‘robbery or theft’ in the exclusion clause. The substituted text reads: provided further that circumstances contemplated in this item exclude robbery or theft.
What it means
The amendment deletes the words ‘a hostile act by a third party constituted by’ before ‘robbery or theft’, so the exclusion now reads simply that the circumstances contemplated exclude robbery or theft. That is a widening of the exclusion and therefore a narrowing of the relief: losses that previously fell outside the carve-out because no third-party hostile act was involved may now be caught.
Proof
By virtue of the power vested in me by section 74(3)(a) of the Value-Added Tax Act, 1991 (Act No. 89 of 1991) (the Act), I, Enoch Godongwana, Minister of Finance, hereby determine that the further proviso to item no. 412.09/00.00/01.00 in paragraph 8 of Schedule 1 to the Act be aligned to the further proviso to rebate item 412.09/00.00/01.00 in Part 1 of Schedule 4 of the Customs and Excise Act, 1964.
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