Customs & Duties
How Import Duties & VAT Are Calculated in South Africa
If you’re importing into South Africa, two separate charges land on top of what you paid your supplier: customs duty and import VAT. Knowing how SARS works them out — and in what order — is the difference between a clean landed cost and a nasty surprise at clearance. Here’s the calculation, step by step, with a worked example you can follow.
Customs duty and import VAT are two different charges
Every commercial import is assessed for both customs duty and Value-Added Tax. Duty is a percentage set by the tariff heading (HS code) of your goods — some products carry 0%, others 20%, 30% or more. VAT is charged at the standard rate of 15% on almost everything entering the country. They sit on different bases, and the duty actually feeds into the VAT calculation, so the order you work them out in matters.
Step 1 — Work out the customs value
The starting point is the customs value of your goods: normally the price you actually paid your supplier, converted to rand at the customs exchange rate on a transaction-value basis. This is the figure SARS uses as the foundation for everything that follows. Get the customs value wrong and every number downstream is wrong too.
Step 2 — Apply the duty rate for your HS code
Each product has a tariff heading in the Customs and Excise tariff, and that heading sets the duty rate. You apply that percentage to the customs value to get the rand amount of duty payable. If your goods qualify for a trade agreement — for example a SADC or EUR.1 preference — the duty rate may be reduced or zero, but only if you hold the correct certificate of origin. Classifying goods under the right HS code is where most importers slip up, so it’s worth getting a determination rather than guessing.
Step 3 — Calculate VAT on the Added Tax Value
Import VAT isn’t charged on the customs value directly. SARS first builds an Added Tax Value (ATV): it takes the customs value, adds a notional 10% upliftment, then adds any non-rebated customs duty. VAT at 15% is charged on that total. In formula form: ATV = (customs value + 10%) + duties, and import VAT = 15% × ATV.
Worked example
VAT on a R100 000 import
Say your goods have a customs value of R100 000 and fall under a tariff heading with a 20% duty rate:
• Customs duty: 20% × R100 000 = R20 000
• 10% upliftment: R10 000
• Added Tax Value: R100 000 + R10 000 + R20 000 = R130 000
• Import VAT: 15% × R130 000 = R19 500
Total duty + VAT payable to SARS: R39 500.
(The 20% rate is illustrative — your actual rate depends on your HS code.)
Can you claim the VAT back?
If you’re a registered VAT vendor importing goods for your business, the import VAT is generally claimable as input tax — provided you have a valid customs release and the correct supporting documents. Customs duty, by contrast, is a true cost and isn’t recoverable. We cover the input-tax claim process in detail in our guide to claiming back import VAT.
Why this matters for your landed cost
Duty and VAT can add 20–35% or more to the value of a shipment before it even leaves the port. Building them into your pricing up front — and making sure your goods are correctly classified and registered — keeps your cashflow predictable. If you’re not yet registered as an importer with SARS, that’s the first step, and it’s one we handle in-house.
Related service
Customs Registration Services
Before you can import, you need a registered Importers Code and the right SARS registrations. Atrax sets all of this up for you and clears your cargo end to end.
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