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.”
