A VAT ruling is a document issued by SARS on application which sets out a VAT treatment to a specific transaction and to which SARS bind themselves. In the complex and often uncertain world of VAT in South Africa, having a binding view form SARS is often the best possible solution given that there may be more than one professional opinion on the interpretation of certain VAT provisions. The SARS VAT ruling team contains some of the best and most respected resources in the country.
Unlike the case in ruling applications for rulings from SARS on other tax types, VAT applications have no SARS fee and binding views may be obtained from SARS even on transactions that have already been executed.
Applying for a ruling however is no simple task and requires thorough and detailed analysis of the law, court judgments, rulings and notices, not to mention the need to ensure the ruling is correctly approached to avoid it being labelled as falling into what is called the ‘no rulings’ list.
VAT consulting has applied for numerous rulings from SARS and have obtained only favourable rulings from SARS to date.