DUTY CALLS

Vouchers of Correction
(VOC)
On 7 March the South
African Revenue Service
(Sars) issued the following
letter to external stakeholders
under the title “Electronic
Data Interchange (EDI)
Submission of Vouchers of
Correction and Declaration of
Determination Numbers and
Proofs of Origin for Refund
Purposes”.
In terms of Government
Notice R.814 dated 31 July
2009 declarations including
vouchers of correction
(VOC) were required to be
submitted electronically
on EDI (Electronic Data
Interchange) from 1 August
2009. It has been noted that
some clients still submit
vouchers of correction for
refund purposes through
the manual process instead
of the prescribed electronic
(EDI) process. All EDI
clients registered with Sars
who wish to submit refund
claims must submit vouchers
of correction electronically.
Manual VOCs will be
rejected.
It has further been noted
that in instances where a
determination number was
issued, in accordance with
the provisions of Sections
65 and 47(9) of the Customs
and Excise Act No. 91 of
1964 and the relevant Rules
thereto, prior to import
clearances, that some clients
have not been inserting such
a determination number on
the import declarations as
required.
We have also noticed
that many proofs of origin
(EUR.1, SADC certificates
of origin and invoice
declarations) that were
issued before importation are
only declared after import
clearances have been made,
resulting in unnecessary
refund applications. Kindly
note that these certificates
must be declared at the time
of import clearance for home
consumption as contemplated
in Rules 49A.20 (22) (a),
49B.10 (9)7(a) and 49D. 22
(24)(a) to the Customs and
Excise Act No. 91 of 1964.
As from 12 March 2012
penalties will be imposed
where clients do not declare
their proofs of origin as
explained above, as well as
in cases where determination
numbers are inserted on
vouchers of correction for
refund purposes and not on
the import declaration at time
of clearance when available”.
Road Cargo Completion
Manual
With effect from 12 March
the Sars 8-page “External
Completion Manual for
DA8C and DA8C.01 – Road
Cargo” will apply.
The form DA 8C is titled
“Application for Registration
on the Automated Cargo
Management (ACM) system”,
and the form DA 8C.01
“Application for Registration
on the Automated Cargo
Management (ACM) system”.
The manual describes
the completion of forms for
registration of cargo reporters
on the ACM system in terms
of the provisions of Section
8(1) and the Rules thereto
for the purpose of receiving
and processing of road cargo
reports.
Please note that “The
Customs client code number
or ACM system code number
allocated to the applicant
must be entered in this field.
The general code number
70707070 may not be used
for registration on the ACM
system”.
Customs Modernisation
– Registration FAQs
According to Sars, following
the publication of a notice
on its website relating to
parties required to register
with Customs before
implementation of Customs
Modernisation at Botswana,
Lesotho, Namibia, ands
Swaziland (BLNS) land
borders, it published a list of
Frequently Asked Questions
on 5 March.
The publication at present
contains 19 questions and
answers, and the list will be
updated as and when new
issues arise.