On 29 June the South Africa Revenue Service (Sars) announced the amendment of its “Bonds External Policy”, with the insertion of new subparagraphs (b) and (b) under paragraph 2.1 “Surety as a condition” to make it clear that bonds are not required for Carbon Tax purposes and tobacco leaf dealers
As a reminder, the Policy covers: (i) The standards used to determine the amount of surety and the criteria used to review the amount of surety; (ii) The registration, cancellation, increase or decrease and governance of bonds and addendums which are the acceptable forms of surety; and (iii) Surety where it is a condition of approval, registration, licensing or designation.
Cash deposits on provisional payments (DA 70) in lieu of bonds are no longer accepted for surety for any new applications. Cash deposits will only be accepted for duty and / or Value-added Tax (VAT), which are due or may become due pending compliance with a specified condition or obligation to Excise within a stipulated period, (e.g. the declaration process).
The policy does not cover: (i) Completion of Bonds and Addendums as this is dealt with in document SE-BON-03-M01; (ii) Licensing and Registration as this is dealt with in document SE-LR-02; (iii) Customs Bonds as this is dealt with in document SC-SE-05; (iv) Other forms of surety, for example, placing liens are covered in the enforcement procedures; and (v) Plant and machinery, which cannot be used as surety to cover any Customs security risks.
The External Policy is accessible at:
https://www.sars.gov.za/AllDocs/OpsDocs/Policies/SE-BON-02%20-%20Bonds%20-%20External %20Policy.pdf
Story by: Riaan de Lange
