Tax Court Allows Late VAT Input Tax Amendment on New Factual Grounds

• The Tax Court allowed Taxpayer KG (Pty) Ltd to amend its Rule 32 appeal statement to add new factual bases supporting the same disputed VAT input tax deduction.
• The dispute concerns a ZAR 6.65 million input tax claim on a mixed-use property bought for ZAR 54.15 million; SARS had originally refunded the input tax but later disallowed it after an audit.
• The taxpayer originally objected on a property-development basis, then tried shortly before trial to add claims that it intended to commercially exploit fly-ash dumps and develop a solar electricity project.
• The court held that Rule 32(3) permits new grounds of appeal so long as they relate to the same part/amount of the assessment already objected to, and do not attack a wholly new assessment item.
• The judgment confirms and applies Baseline and TALT, emphasizing that amendments at appeal stage can be allowed even if they introduce new factual support, provided the substance of the original objection is unchanged.

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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