- From 1 January 2026, supplies made by schools registered under the South African Schools Act, 1996 will be exempt from VAT, except where a school conducts approved welfare activities as a welfare organisation.
- As a result, affected schools will no longer be eligible to remain VAT vendors and must apply to cancel their VAT registration.
- SARS will notify schools by letter about the legal change and the required actions, supporting documents, and submission method.
- Schools must submit form VAT123e for cancellation, state in Section A that “All enterprise activities have ceased on 31 December 2025,” and report the total net value of business assets held as at 31 December 2025 in Section B.
- The completed VAT123e must be emailed to [email protected] with subject line “VAT deregistration – Schools”; requests for deferment or instalments for exit VAT must be submitted separately in writing.
Source: sars.gov.za
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
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