Treasury and SARS Amend VAT Export Regulations for Port Terminal Deliveries

Posted 26 August 2026 Written by Acts Online
Category Tax

Brought to you by SAnews: National Treasury and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) have issued amendments to the Export Regulations under the Value-Added Tax Act, 1991 (Act No. 89 of 1991), extending zero-rating provisions to movable goods delivered directly to terminal operators within harbour precincts.

Published in terms of section 74(1), read with paragraph (d) of the definition of ‘exported’ in section 1(1) of the Value-Added Tax Act, 1991, the regulatory update resolves practical impediments encountered by vendors exporting bulk commodities through privately operated port facilities.

Addressing Practical Compliance Impediments

Under the previous regulatory wording, a vendor electing to zero-rate indirect exports delivered to a harbour was strictly required to effect delivery to one of the following parties or areas:

  • The port authority (such as the Transnet National Port Authority — TNPA);
  • The master of the ship;
  • A container operator; or
  • The designated control area of an airport authority or pilot of an aircraft.

In practice, facilities such as the privately owned Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) operate bulk export terminals within harbour precincts using TNPA infrastructure. Because TNPA does not manage physical terminal operations at these sites, strict interpretation of the former regulations prevented qualifying vendors delivering directly to the terminal operator from fulfilling the formal delivery requirements for zero-rating under section 11(1)(a)(ii) of the Act.

The amended regulations align statutory delivery procedures with commercial logistics by recognising delivery to qualifying terminal operators as meeting the procedural threshold for zero-rating.

Click here to access the regulation notice and accompanying Explanatory Memorandum on the National Treasury website.

What this means for you, your business, or your clients

  • For yourself: Tax practitioners and VAT specialists must update their export VAT checklist to confirm that documentary proofs of delivery to licensed harbour terminal operators now satisfy SARS indirect export rules.
  • For your business: Accounting and billing systems for logistics and export operations should ensure VAT invoicing rules accurately reflect the amended zero-rate eligibility criteria for harbour terminal deliveries.
  • For your clients: Exporters utilizing private port terminals (such as RBCT) can zero-rate supplies without facing SARS audit assessments based solely on technical non-delivery to port authorities like TNPA.

Originally published at https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/government-publishes-amendments-export-regulations

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