Sars on 07 February published documents for consideration and comment by 09 March due to the laborious rewrite of the Customs and Excise Act, 1964, which will one day replace the aging Customs Duty Act, 2014, and the Customs Control Act, 2014.
The documents include a Correlation Table, The General Notes to the Act, Schedule No 2 to the Act, Schedule No 3 to the Act, Schedule No 4 to the Act, and Schedule No 5 to the Act.
Correlation table - This document is comprehensive and contains a bird’s eye view of the tariff structure as contained in the Act, 1964, any changes to the wording and structure and where in the new Customs Tariff it can be found. The correlation is from the Act, 1964 to the new Customs Tariff and the other way around.
The General Notes to the Act - The General Notes are circulated without the rest of Schedule No. 1 as they would make the documents bulky and difficult to email. Schedule No.1 to the Act, 1964 contains a few changes that are elaborated on in the correlation table (see lines 60 to 73) but in essence it contains the current tariff code structure of the existing Schedule No.1 Part 1 to the Act, 1964.
Schedule No.2 to the Act - Schedule No.2 to the Act, 1964 remained unchanged with the exception of the notes which were previously repeated in each part of Schedule No.2 to the Act, 1964. The changes are contained in the correlation table.
Schedule No.3 to the Act - Schedule No.3 to the Act, 1964 significantly changed and contains both the provisions of Schedule No.3 to the Act, 1964 and Schedule No.4 to the Act, 1964. The schedule is also aligned with the procedures as contained in the CDA and CCA. All the changes are elaborated upon in the correlation table.
Schedule No.4 to the Act - Schedule No.4 to the Act, 1964 contains the refund and drawback provisions previously contained in Schedule No.5 to the Act, 1964. The Schedule now also makes provision for some refunds contained in Chapters 25 and 26 of the CCA that did not form part of the 1964 version of Schedule No.5 to the Act, 1964. All the changes and movement of items are elaborated upon in the correlation table.
Schedule No. 5 to the Act - Schedule No.5 contains the provisions for ordinary levy previously reported in Part 8 of Schedule No.1 of the Act, 1964.
Story by: Riaan de Lange