VAT Treatment of Electronic Services in South Africa: Impact of 2019 Regulations

• In 2014, South Africa adopted legislation to subject certain electronic services to VAT
• Current regulations have broadened the concept of electronic services subject to VAT
• Non-resident suppliers must register for VAT and levy VAT on services exceeding ZAR 1 million in a 12 month period
• There is unlikely to be additional revenue collected for South Africa in B2B transactions
• Non-resident taxpayers have been approached by SARS to register for VAT under electronic services provisions
• Applications for registration have yielded a registration date of 1 October 2019
• SARS regards IP rights and content as the same for VAT purposes, which may have withholding tax implications.

Source: ensafrica.com

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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