Truckers face VAT shock

Truckers hauling export
boxes between the packing
station/yard/depot and the
port terminals may soon find
themselves getting nailed for
unpaid VAT attached to that
box’s contents, according to
Kevin Martin, chairman of
the Durban Harbour Carriers'
Association (DHCA) section of
the SA Association of Freight
Forwarders (Saaff) in KZN.
That, he told FTW,
was deduced from his
interpretation of certain
sections of the new Customs
Act and an amendment to the
VAT Act.
“With the new proposed
changes, a whole set of new
obligations is being imposed
on the road transport industry
which are neither fair nor
reasonable.
“Further, these obligations
are not imposed on the
transporter per se but on the
user of the services. What they
mean is that the user has to
use registered transporters.
And, if they do not do so, they
will be fined – thus forcing
them to use only registered
transporters.”
How will it work?
According to Martin, under
the Vat Act any transporter
transporting goods for export
from the Republic must be
registered as a remover with
Sars. “Note,” he added, “not
customs, as it has nothing
to do with customs’ duties/
uncleared cargoes.”
This, Martin was told, was
to ensure that only companies
or persons that are registered
with Sars are used. “I thought
this was what the companies
and intellectual property
registration office (Cipro)
system was for?”
The problem in this rockand-
a-hard-place situation is
that – as a road transporter
transporting “cleared” goods –
he is always acting under thirdparty
instructions.
“In short,” Martin said,
“we are not the authors of the
instructions, but merely the
party acting on them.
“That is, we cannot be held
liable as we are transporting in
compliance with the relevant
Road Transportation Act
only – ensuring our vehicle
is legal, our drivers licensed
and our load secure and
evenly distributed
over the axles units,
and operated in a legal
manner.
“Further, when it
comes to container
transport – due to the
need for security and
based on the “need to
know” principle – we do
not know the container
contents, manner of
loading, mass, value etc.
“We move a sealed
box loaded to international
standards, with that load
secured and distributed over
the box according to best
practices. The load is always
collected from an approved
facility and delivered to an
approved facility. This approval
either by the client (warehouse)
or the State (container deep sea
terminal).
What does it mean if a
trucker registers with Sars?
“I believe that by doing
so, the road transporter will
become liable in the event of a
problem,” Martin declared. “A
problem not of his making and
about cargoes and values he is
totally unaware of.”