SARS VAT201 Vendor Declaration: Filing, Deadlines, and Penalties

To complete and submit your SARS VAT201 return, request the return for the relevant tax period through eFiling, the SARS Contact Centre, or a SARS branch; capture your output tax (VAT on sales) and input tax (VAT on purchases) field by field from your invoices and records; then submit the return and settle any balance by the deadline that applies to your filing channel.¹ The standard VAT rate is 15% for 2026 after a proposed increase was reversed by the Rates and Monetary Amounts and the Amendment of Revenue Laws Bill.² Every registered vendor files a VAT201 for each assigned tax period, whether or not there was any trading activity.

What to Have Ready Before You Start

Pull your records together before opening the return. Estimation is what triggers SARS queries later.

Sales totals split three ways: standard-rated supplies at 15%, zero-rated supplies (exports and qualifying items like basic foodstuffs), and exempt or non-supplies. Within each, separate capital goods from other goods or services.
Purchase VAT split between capital goods and other goods or services supplied to you, plus VAT on anything you imported directly.
Valid tax invoices supporting every output and input figure, meeting Section 20 of the VAT Act.
Debit and credit notes for returned goods, price changes, or irrecoverable debts since the last period.
Your customs code, if you had any imports or exports (Fields 2A, 14A, or 15A require it).
Commercial accommodation figures split between stays over 28 days and stays of 28 days or less, if applicable.

Keep supporting documents for at least five years from the date of submission, as Section 29 of the Tax Administration Act requires.³ If a return has not yet been submitted for a period, the retention obligation runs indefinitely until it is.

Tax Invoice Thresholds

Input tax claims stand or fall on the invoices behind them. SARS distinguishes three tiers by value including VAT.⁴

A supply exceeding R5,000 requires a full tax invoice with all seven elements: the words “Tax Invoice,” “VAT Invoice,” or “Invoice” prominently displayed; the supplier’s name, address, and 10-digit VAT number; the recipient’s name, address, and VAT number where the recipient is a vendor; a serial number and date of issue; an accurate description of the goods or services (second-hand goods identified as such); the quantity or volume; and the value excluding VAT, the VAT amount, and the total including VAT. Missing one element can disqualify the invoice.

A supply between R50 and R5,000 can use an abridged invoice, which drops the recipient details but still needs the heading, supplier details, serial number and date, description, and the value with the VAT amount or a statement that VAT is included. For supplies of R50 or less, a till slip or receipt is acceptable if it carries the supplier’s VAT number. Every tax invoice must be issued within 21 days of the date of supply.⁵

Requesting the Return

You cannot fill in the VAT201 until SARS issues it for the period.

Through eFiling

Register as an eFiler and activate the VAT tax type on your profile. Go to Organisation, then Tax Types, then Manage Tax Types, tick the Activate box, and submit. To pull the return, select Returns, then Returns Issued, then Value Added Tax (VAT201). Choose the tax period and click Request Return. The system generates the form with your trading name, VAT registration number, tax period, and a unique 19-digit Payment Reference Number (PRN) pre-populated.⁶

Through the Contact Centre or a SARS Branch

Call the SARS Contact Centre or book an appointment for a branch visit on the SARS website. The agent will ask for your business trading name, your name and surname, VAT registration number, tax period, business postal address, and customs code where relevant. Bring every amount you need to enter. The agent completes the return on screen, and you sign to authorize submission on the spot.¹

Filling In the Return

The VAT201 groups its fields into output tax (what you owe) and input tax (what you can claim back). Several fields are auto-calculated on eFiling but remain editable if you disagree with the result.⁶ Field headings shown in red are mandatory.

Vendor and Contact Details

The top of the form carries your trading name, VAT number, and tax period, all pre-populated on eFiling. Add contact details for the person responsible for the return: first name, surname, capacity, and phone numbers. If the return relates to a Voluntary Disclosure Programme agreement, mark the VDP box with an “X” and enter the VDP application number.

Output Tax Fields

Field 1: VAT-inclusive amount of standard-rated supplies, excluding capital goods and accommodation.
Field 1A: VAT-inclusive amount of standard-rated capital goods or services you supplied.
Field 2: Zero-rated supplies, excluding exported goods.
Field 2A: Zero-rated exported goods. Completing this field makes the customs code mandatory.
Field 3: Exempt supplies and non-supplies.
Fields 4 and 4A: Auto-calculated output tax on Fields 1 and 1A, using amount × 15 ÷ 115.
Fields 5 to 9: Commercial accommodation. Field 5 covers stays exceeding 28 days (VAT-exclusive), Field 7 covers shorter stays, and Fields 6, 8, and 9 calculate the tax.
Fields 10 and 11: Change-in-use adjustments for goods originally purchased for taxable use now applied privately or for exempt purposes, plus exported second-hand goods where a notional input tax was previously claimed.
Field 12: Other output tax items, including debit notes issued, credit notes received, recovered bad debts, barter transactions, imported services for non-taxable use, and going-concern adjustments.
Field 13: Total output tax, auto-calculated as the sum of Fields 4, 4A, 9, 11, and 12.

Input Tax Fields

Field 14: Permissible VAT on capital goods or services supplied to you by other vendors.
Field 14A: Permissible VAT on capital goods you imported directly. Requires the customs code.
Field 15: Permissible VAT on other (non-capital) goods or services supplied to you.
Field 15A: Permissible VAT on other goods you imported. Requires the customs code.
Field 16: Change-in-use input tax on goods previously used for non-taxable purposes and now shifted to taxable use.
Field 17: Other input tax adjustments, including credit notes issued, debit notes received, bad debt write-offs, and other permitted deductions.
Field 18: Total input tax, auto-calculated.

Field 19 is the net difference: if output tax exceeds input tax, you owe SARS. Field 20 shows a refund where input tax exceeds output tax. This is the only field on the return where a negative value is permitted.

Foreign Currency Amounts

Convert foreign-currency invoices to South African Rand before entering them. SARS accepts three options: the daily exchange rate on the date the time of supply occurs; the closing rate on the last day of the month before the time of supply; or the monthly average rate for the month before the time of supply.⁷ The second and third options suit high-volume traders, but you cannot rely on them during exceptional circumstances where the rand equivalent would be distorted. If a foreign currency fluctuates by 10% or more within the relevant month, fall back to the daily spot rate. Acceptable sources are the South African Reserve Bank, Bloomberg, and the European Central Bank. SARS also publishes quarterly average rates, but using them is not compulsory.⁸ Keep records of your calculations for any audit.

Submitting the Return

On eFiling, once all required fields are captured, click Submit VAT201. A confirmation screen shows the return was received and the VAT201 Work Page updates to the filed status. Verify receipt at any time under Query Filed Returns. At a SARS office, the agent processes the return and you sign to authorize it; the signed copy is your proof of compliance. Whichever channel you use, retain a copy of the filed return and any reference numbers SARS generates.

Errors That Cause SARS to Reject the Return

SARS rejects returns outright in several situations that catch vendors off guard: submitting a return for a period that has not yet ended; mismatching the tax period dates with what SARS expects for your filing category; skipping a prior period, since SARS expects returns in sequence; leaving out the customs code when Fields 2A, 14A, or 15A carry non-zero values; and entering negative values in any field other than Field 20. Confirm that no prior period is outstanding before you attempt to file the current one.

Paying What You Owe

If Field 19 shows a liability, pay the balance by the deadline for your filing channel. SARS accepts several payment methods.⁹

eFiling credit push: from the VAT201 Work Page, click Make Payment, then Pay Now. The system sends a payment request to your bank, which you authorize through your banking platform. Credit push payments are irrevocable once authorized.¹⁰
Electronic Funds Transfer through your internet banking, using the pre-loaded SARS beneficiary IDs prefixed “SARS-“. SARS cannot allocate payments with incorrect references.
SARS MobiApp, paying from your Statement of Account.
Foreign payments: non-resident taxpayers without a South African bank account can pay electronically using the SWIFT 103 message format with beneficiary ID “SARS-FOR-999” through FNB.

Always use the 19-digit PRN on the return so SARS can link the payment to the right period. Payments made via eFiling credit push get the extended deadline; payments made by any other method must reach SARS by the 25th.¹

Deadlines by Filing Category

SARS assigns every vendor to a tax period category at registration. Most vendors sit in Category A or B.¹¹

Category A: bimonthly, periods ending January, March, May, July, September, and November.
Category B: bimonthly, periods ending February, April, June, August, October, and December.
Category C: monthly, required when taxable supplies have exceeded or are likely to exceed R30 million in any consecutive twelve-month period.
Category D: every six months, periods ending February and August. Available mainly to farming enterprises with taxable supplies below R1.5 million over twelve months, and to micro businesses registered under the Sixth Schedule of the Income Tax Act.
Category E: annual, ending on the last day of your year of assessment. Restricted to companies or trusts engaged in letting fixed property, renting movable goods, or administering connected-person companies.

For eFiling users, both the return and payment (if paid via eFiling credit push) are due by the last business day of the month following the end of the tax period. If you file on eFiling but pay through your bank rather than credit push, the payment deadline is the 25th. Vendors who submit manually at a SARS branch face the 25th as the deadline for both the return and payment.

Penalties

The penalty regime treats late submission and late payment differently, and that distinction trips up many vendors.

SARS imposes a 10% penalty on the VAT amount unpaid after the payment deadline. There is currently no penalty for late submission of a VAT return on its own.¹² Not filing prevents you from paying, though, so the late payment penalty hits either way. Interest accrues on the outstanding amount for every day it remains unpaid past the deadline. Separately, SARS can impose fixed-amount administrative penalties for ongoing non-compliance such as repeated failure to submit returns; those penalties are assessed monthly based on your taxable income or assessed loss bracket and accumulate until you come into compliance.

If SARS determines you understated your VAT liability, a percentage-based penalty applies on top of the shortfall. The percentage depends on the behavior:¹³

Substantial understatement: 10% (20% if obstructive or a repeat case).
Reasonable care not taken: 25% (50% if obstructive or repeat).
No reasonable grounds for tax position: 50% (75% if obstructive or repeat).
Gross negligence: 100% (125% if obstructive or repeat).
Intentional tax evasion: 150% (200% if obstructive or repeat).

A “substantial understatement” means the prejudice to SARS exceeds either 5% of the tax properly chargeable for the period or R1 million, whichever is greater. The penalty does not apply where the understatement resulted from a genuine inadvertent error. Criminal prosecution under the Tax Administration Act remains possible for willful evasion, handled through the National Prosecuting Authority.

Fixing Mistakes After Filing

If you find an error on a return you have already submitted, the route depends on how serious it is and whether SARS has flagged it.

For straightforward errors, such as a transposition or a misallocated field, request a revised return for that period through eFiling or at a SARS office. This works for minor adjustments where you can show the mistake was inadvertent.

For more significant defaults, including past periods with inaccurate figures or missed submissions, the Voluntary Disclosure Programme (VDP) offers relief from understatement penalties and potential criminal prosecution. The programme requires that your disclosure is genuinely voluntary (SARS has not already started investigating), complete in all material respects, and not a repeat of a similar default within the past five years. It also cannot result in a refund from SARS.¹⁴ Apply through eFiling. If accepted, SARS issues a formal agreement setting out the defaults, the tax payable including any reduced penalty, the relief granted, and payment terms. Timing is the constraint: once SARS notifies you of an audit or investigation, the voluntary disclosure window closes and the penalty percentages jump.

1
South African Revenue Service. Guide to Completing the Value-Added Tax (VAT201) Return
2
South African Revenue Service. Value-Added Tax
3
South African Revenue Service. Binding General Ruling on Alternative Documentary Proof
4
South African Revenue Service. Value-Added Tax Invoices Checklist
5
South African Government. Value-Added Tax Act 89 of 1991
6
South African Revenue Service. Guide to Completing the Value Added Tax VAT201 Declaration
7
South African Revenue Service. Binding General Ruling 11 – Use of Exchange Rates
8
South African Revenue Service. Average Exchange Rates
9
South African Revenue Service. Make a Payment
10
South African Revenue Service. eFiling Payments (Credit Push)
11
South African Revenue Service. Tax Periods for VAT
12
South African Revenue Service. FAQs for VAT Vendors
13
South African Revenue Service. Guide to Understatement Penalties
14
South African Revenue Service. Voluntary Disclosure Programme (VDP)