ZERO RATING VAT DECLARATION
DOCUMENTARY PROOF REQUIRED FOR THE VAT ZERO-RATING OF SAICA SERVICES OFFERED TO NON-RESIDENT MEMBERS
In terms of the SAICA By-laws, each member of the Institute, other than honorary or long service members, shall pay an annual subscription fee at such time and of such amount and on such conditions as may from time to time be determined by the SAICA Board. The CA(SA) designation may only be used by members in good standing with SAICA.
On an annual basis, between October and December, members are issued with tax invoices in respect of the following year’s membership fees. Membership subscriptions are payable on an annual basis by 31 January for any particular year of membership.
SAICA is a registered Value Added Tax (VAT) vendor in terms of the Value Added Tax Act 89 of 1991 ('the Act'), and as such the services rendered by SAICA are vatable supplies. A basic principle of VAT is that goods or services supplied by a vendor in the course or furtherance of the vendor’s enterprise should generally be subject to VAT at the standard rate (15%). Sections 11(1) and (2) of the VAT Act make provision for a vendor to supply certain goods or services at the zero rate. In order to zero-rate these supplies, a vendor must comply with section 11(3) of the Act which requires a vendor to obtain and retain sufficient documentation to substantiate the zero-rating of such supplies.
The required documentary proof as contemplated in section 11(3) and acceptable to the Commissioner is set out in Interpretation Note No. 31. According to the requirements of the Interpretation Note, in order for SAICA to apply the zero-rate on services supplied to non-resident members of the Republic [section 11(2)(ℓ)] the following documentary proof is required:
- The vendor's copy of the zero-rated tax invoice
- The recipient's order or the contract between the recipient and the vendor
- Written confirmation from the recipient that the recipient is not a resident of the Republic, where not stated in the recipient's order or contract between the recipient and the vendor
- Proof of payment
In order to meet requirement c) SAICA would need to obtain formal written/electronic confirmation from members confirming their residence status. It is against this background that members are required to submit a declaration in the prescribed format of their residence status.
SAICA requests all members to submit the declarations as soon as a member becomes non-resident. In order for the zero-rated VAT invoice to be generated this would need to be received one month prior to our billing date.
If you are in possession of an invoice including the Standard VAT rate, on receipt of your declaration, your credit note and, if required, a refund will be processed.