Customs & Duties
Can You Claim Back Import VAT in South Africa?
Import VAT can be a big number on a shipment — and the good news is that, for most businesses, it’s recoverable. Customs duty isn’t. Here’s who can claim import VAT back, what you need to do it, and where claims tend to come unstuck.
Yes — if you’re a registered VAT vendor
If your business is registered for VAT and you import goods to make taxable supplies, the import VAT you pay is generally claimable as input tax. It works the same way as VAT on a local purchase — you offset it against the output VAT you charge. The key conditions are that you’re a vendor and the goods are for your taxable business.
Import VAT and customs duty: only one is recoverable
This is the distinction that catches people out. Import VAT is recoverable input tax for a vendor; customs duty is a true, non-recoverable cost. When you’re costing a shipment, treat the duty as a permanent expense and the VAT as a timing item you’ll get back. (See our guide to how duties and VAT are calculated.)
Worked example
Reclaiming R19 500 of import VAT
On the R100 000 import from our duties guide, the import VAT was R19 500 and the customs duty R20 000.
• Import VAT R19 500 — claimable as input tax (registered vendor)
• Customs duty R20 000 — not recoverable, a true cost
So a vendor effectively carries the R20 000 duty, but gets the R19 500 VAT back through the VAT return.
What you need to claim the input tax
To claim, you need proof that the import VAT was paid and that the goods are yours — typically a valid customs release / EDI release notification and the supporting clearance documents, with your details as importer. The goods must be for taxable supplies, and the claim goes in the right tax period. Keep the customs documentation; SARS can ask for it.
How the claim works on your VAT return
The import VAT is included as input tax on your VAT return for the period in which you’re entitled to claim it, reducing the net VAT you pay over to SARS (or increasing your refund). Getting the timing and the supporting documents right is what makes the claim stick.
Common reasons claims get rejected
Claims fail when the importer on the customs documents doesn’t match the vendor claiming, when the supporting release isn’t valid or is missing, or when the goods aren’t genuinely for taxable supplies. Clean documentation and the correct registrations — in the right name — prevent almost all of it.
Get your registrations right first
The foundation of a clean VAT claim is being correctly registered: as a VAT vendor, and as an importer with the right customs client number in your business’s name. That’s exactly the registration work we set up for importers.
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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