Tax Administration Laws On 22 October 2014 the Minister of Finance introduced the Rates and Monetary Amounts and Amendment of Revenue Laws Bill, 2014 [B12- 2014]; the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill, 2014 [B13-2014]; and the Tax Administration Laws Amendment Bill, 2014 [B14-2014] in the National Assembly. On 30 October 2014 the South African Revenue Service (Sars) issued a note that all three Bills had been replaced with the latest versions provided by National Treasury due to implementation dates that might have changed. Of all the Bills, the Tax Administration Laws Amendment Bill is of most interest to Customs practitioners as it contains reference to the amendment of the Customs and Excise Acts. If you are interested in the detail simply send us an email with “2014 Customs Acts Proposed Amendment Sheet” in the title, and we will send you a 12-page summary document. The proposed amendments to the Customs and Excise Act No.91 of 1964 relate to (i) Section 43 of the Act – “Disposal of goods on failure to make due entry, goods imported in contravention of any other law and seized and abandoned goods”; (ii) Section 47 of the Act – “Payment of duty and rate of duty applicable”; (iii) Section 50 of the Act “Provisions relating to the disclosure of information in terms of agreements and conventions”; (iv) Section 101B of the Act – “Special provisions relating to the processing and protection of personal information”; Section 119A of the Act – “Substitution of Schedules”. The proposed amendments to the Customs Duty Act No. 30 of 2014 relate to: (i) Section 1 of the Act – Interpretation; (ii) Section 88 of the Act – Mandatory re-assessment of duty; (iii) Section 201 of the Act – Fixed amount penalty; (iv) Section 202 of the Act – Procedure for imposing fixed amount penalty; (v) Section 221 of the Act – Admissibility of certain statements in documents. The proposed amendments to the Customs Control Act No. 31 of 2014 relate to: (i) Section 177 to the Act - Invoices; (ii) Section 178 to the Act – Amendments of invoices; (iii) Section 241 to the Act – Proposed and application of this chapter; Section 242 of the Act - Transhipment; and Section 634 of the Act – Licensing of other categories of premises, facilities or persons Duty Calls’ Watch List The publication of the 2015 Customs tariff amendments is expected by 29 November 2014. Comment on the “Third Batch” of draft Rules to the Customs Control Act is due by 14 November 2014. The anticipated application for an increase in the “General” rate of customs duty on tariff subheadings 7210.41; 7210.49, 7212.30, 7210.61, 7210.90, 7225.99.90, 7210.70 and 7212.40. That’s correct … correction One of the challenges in keeping people informed is to account for correction notices, as people may well not take these into account. How many corrections have you had to account for this year?
