Tax Court Ruling on VAT Input Tax Entitlement for Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd vs. SARS

• The case involves Appellant Southern Africa Pty Ltd and the Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service.
• The issue is whether the appellant is entitled to a VAT input tax refund of R26,901,845.85.
• The appellant paid this amount as import VAT in October 2018 while acting as a clearing agent for BIV Gold Pty Ltd.
• The appellant claimed a refund in its VAT return for the tax period 04/2019.
• The Commissioner disallowed the refund, stating the VAT was paid on behalf of BIV, and only BIV could claim it back.
• Appellant Southern Africa Pty Ltd is a clearing and forwarding agent, licensed under the Customs and Excise Act.
• The respondent is the Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service, responsible for tax enforcement.

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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