On 09 July 2021, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) announced in a media release that the annual carbon tax accounts and payments in respect of the 2020 tax period, which started on 01 January 2020 and ended on 31 December 2020, are now due.
The media release reads:
Submissions of the Excise declaration (EXD 180) account with its relevant annexures as well as the related carbon tax payments can be submitted on eFiling until 15.00 on 29 July 2021.
In line with our strategic objectives of providing clarity and certainty around tax obligations and making it easy to comply we are outlining the following requirements:
A taxpayer who pays carbon tax is any person who conducts a taxable activity subject to carbon tax by exercising operational control over an emissions facility where that activity occurs
Every taxpayer must obtain a consolidated licence for the combination of each such emissions facility as its customs and excise manufacturing warehouse for the generation of emissions liable to carbon tax. Licence applications must be completed on form DA185 and its annexure DA185.4B2. This must be submitted with the required supporting documents to the SARS Excise Registration and Licensing Hub at Alberton branch office
All licensees of customs and excise manufacturing warehouses for the generation of emissions liable to carbon tax must submit their EXD 180 accounts, together with the payment of their carbon tax liability, for the 2020 tax period or any part thereof
Licensees who declare their emissions in terms of section 4(1) of the Carbon Tax Act, 2019, should note that the relevant fields on their EXD 180 accounts might have been automatically populated with the emissions figures that were reported under the National Greenhouse Gas Emission Reporting Regulations of the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries. Licensees who disagree with the prepopulated emissions figures and choose to overwrite these figures will be required to substantiate their alternative emissions declarations
Licensees in the petroleum industry should take note of the new adjustment on the EXD 180 return for the determination of the net levy payable in respect of the production of petrol by a petroleum refinery during the tax period. For more details, please refer to the relevant part C.2 Calculation of Net Levy Payable in the Completion Notes to the account. Please note that the current Completion Notes are uploaded together with the current DA 180 Front Page of the carbon tax account at the “Find-a-Form” link on the SARS website at https://www.sars.gov.za/da-180-environmental-levy-account-for-carbon-tax-external-form/
Finally, the validity period for licences for customs and excise manufacturing warehouses for the generation of emissions liable to carbon tax is from the effective date until 31 December 2021 and thereafter 31 December of the following year. All such licensees must therefore annually apply to renew their licences on or before 31 December of each year, as from 2021, by submitting an updated form for licensing (DA185 and its annexure DA185.4B2) with the required supporting documents to the SARS Excise Registration and Licensing Hub at Alberton branch office.
Story by: Riaan de Lange