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Value-Added Tax Act, 1991 (Act No. 89 of 1991)

Part II : Value-Added Tax

8. Certain supplies of goods or services deemed to be made or not made

 

(1) For the purposes of this Act, where—
(a) goods acquired, manufactured, assembled, constructed or produced by a person are sold, under a power exercisable by another person, in or towards satisfaction of a debt owed by the person whose goods are sold; and
(b) the person whose goods are sold has not furnished, to the person exercising the power of sale, a statement in writing that the supply of those goods would not be a taxable supply if those goods were sold by the person whose goods are sold, and stating fully the reasons why that supply would not be a taxable supply,

those goods shall be deemed to be supplied in the course of an enterprise.

 

(2) For the purposes of this Act, where a person ceases to be a vendor, any goods (other than any goods in respect of the acquisition of which by the vendor a deduction of input tax under section 16(3) was denied in terms of section 17(2) or would have been denied if those sections had been applicable prior to the commencement date) or right capable of assignment, cession or surrender which in either case then forms part of the assets of his enterprise, shall be deemed to be supplied by him in the course of his enterprise immediately before he ceased to be a vendor, unless the enterprise is carried on by another person who in terms of section 53 is deemed to be a vendor: Provided that—
(i) where such right is so deemed to be supplied that supply shall be deemed to be a supply of a service;
(ii) this subsection shall not apply to any such goods or right to the extent that a deduction in terms of section 16(3) has not been allowed or will not be allowed, in respect of the acquisition or use by such vendor, where such vendor on or before 30 June 2000—
(aa) ceases to be a vendor for the sole reason that the total value of taxable supplies made by that vendor in the preceding period of 12 months has not exceeded R20 000; or
(bb) ceases to be a vendor in respect of a commercial rental establishment or a residential rental establishment for the sole reason that the total receipts and accruals derived from that commercial rental establishment or residential rental establishment in the preceding period of 12 months have not exceeded R48 000;
(iii) this subsection shall not apply to fixed property to the extent that a deduction in terms of section 16(3) has not been allowed or will not be allowed in respect of that fixed property or any improvements thereto, where such vendor, on or before 30 June 2000, requests the Commissioner in writing, in the circumstances contemplated in section 24(2), to cancel his registration;
(iv) this subsection shall not apply to a vendor that is a constitutional institution listed in Schedule 1 to the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999) or a public authority, respectively, where that vendor (other than a vendor who applied and was registered as a vendor during the period 22 December 2003 to 31 March 2005) ceases to be a vendor as a result of—
(aa) the substitution of the definition of "public authority" in the Revenue Laws Amendment Act, 2004 or the insertion of paragraph (viii) to the proviso to the definition of "enterprise" in the Revenue Laws Amendment Act, (Act No. 45 of 2003); or
(bb) the re-classification of that vendor or part of that vendor’s activities within the Schedules to the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999) subsequent to the introduction of the Revenue Laws Amendment Act, 2004;
(v) this subsection shall not apply to any such goods or right to the extent that output tax has been paid in terms of section 16(4) read with section 22(3) in respect of such goods or right; and
(vi) this proviso shall not apply to the extent that input tax in respect of such goods or right has been deducted in terms of section 16(3) read with section 22(4).

 

(2A) Where a supply is deemed to have been made by a vendor in terms of subsection (2) and that vendor ceases to be a vendor solely as a consequence of the circumstances contemplated in paragraph (ii) of the proviso to subsection (2), the tax payable to the Commissioner in respect of that deemed supply shall, if the amount thereof is in excess of R3 000, be paid to the Commissioner in so many equal monthly instalments as the Commissioner may allow, the last of which shall not be paid later than 28 February 2001.

 

(2B) Where a supply is deemed to have been made by a vendor in terms of subsection (2) and that vendor ceases on or before 30 June 2005 to be a vendor solely as a consequence of the introduction of proviso (ix) to the definition of ‘enterprise’ in section 1, the tax payable to the Commissioner in respect of that deemed supply shall, if the amount thereof is in excess of R3 000, be paid to the Commissioner in so many equal monthly instalments as the Commissioner may allow.

 

(2C) [Section 8(2C) deleted by the Taxation Laws Amendment Act, 2011 (Act No. 24 of 2011)]

 

(2D) Where a supply is deemed to have been made by a vendor in terms of subsection (2) and that vendor ceases to be a vendor on or before 30 June 2009 for the sole reason that the total value of taxable supplies made by that vendor in the preceding period of 12 months has not exceeded R1 million, the tax payable in respect of that deemed supply shall be paid in six equal monthly instalments or in so many monthly instalments as the Commissioner may allow.

 

(2E) Where a supply is deemed to have been made by a vendor in terms of subsection (2) and that vendor ceases to be a vendor for the sole reason that the total value of taxable supplies made by that vendor in the preceding period of 12 months has not exceeded the amount contemplated in section 23(1) or 23(3), the Minister may by regulation prescribe the period in which the tax payable in respect of that deemed supply shall be paid.

[Section 8(2E) inserted by section 91 of the Taxation Laws Amendment Act, 2009 (Act No. 17 of 2009)].

 

(2F) Where a supply is deemed to have been made by a vendor in terms of subsection (2) and the vendor ceases on or after 1 January 2013 to be a vendor solely by reason of the supply of goods or services being exempt under section 12(l) or (m), the value of that deemed supply shall be deemed to be nil.

[Section 8(2F) inserted by section 146(a) of the Taxation Laws Amendment Act, 2012 (Act No. 22 of 2012)].

 

(2G) Subject to section 24(3), where a supply is deemed to have been made by a vendor in terms of subsection (2) and that vendor ceases to be a vendor on 1 April 2014 for the sole reason of the exemption contemplated in section 12(f)(iv), the tax payable in respect of the deemed supply shall be paid in six equal monthly instalments or in so many monthly instalments as the Commissioner may allow.

 

(3) For the purposes of this Act, a credit agreement to which section 121 of the National Credit Act, 2005 (Act No. 34 of 2005), applies will be deemed not to be a supply of goods or services  if the consumer has exercised the right to rescind that agreement in the manner and within the time permitted by that section.

 

(4)
(a) For the purposes of this Act, any lay-by agreement (as defined in Government Notice No. R 1234 of 13 June 1980, as amended by Government Notice No. R 1814 of 29 August 1980, issued in terms of section 9 of the Sale and Service Matters Act, 1964 (Act No. 25 of 1964)), whereby goods are sold for a consideration not exceeding R10 000 and are reserved by deposit for delivery when the purchase price or a determined portion thereof is paid shall not be deemed to be a supply of goods or services unless and until the goods are delivered to the purchaser.
(b) Where such agreement is cancelled or terminates for any other reason and the seller retains any amount paid by the purchaser or recovers any amount owing by the purchaser under such agreement, the seller shall for the purposes of this Act be deemed to have supplied a service in respect of such agreement.

 

(5) For the purposes of this Act a designated entity shall be deemed to supply services to any public authority or municipality to the extent of any payment made by the public authority or municipality concerned to or on behalf of that designated entity in the course or furtherance of an entrprise carried on by that designated entity.

 

(5A) For the purposes of section 11(2)(t), a vendor (excluding a designated entity) shall be deemed to supply services to any public authority, municipality or constitutional institution listed in Schedule 1 to the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999) to the extent of any grant paid to or on behalf of that vendor in the course or furtherance of an enterprise carried on by that vendor.

 

(5B) For the purposes of this Act, a vendor, being an implementing agency in respect of a foreign donor funded project, shall be deemed to supply services to the international donor to the extent of the funding received in terms of an official development assistance agreement.

[Section 8(5B) substituted by section 68(1)(a) of the Taxation Laws Amendment Act, 2019 (Act No. 34 of 2019), GG42951, dated 15 January 2020 - effective 1 April 2020 (Section 68(2)]

 

(6) For the purposes of this Act, the transfer of all its assets and liabilities by an administrative unit of a municipality that is separately registered under subsection (2) of section 50, to the vendor intended in subsection (1) of that section, shall be deemed not to be a supply.

 

(7) The disposal of an enterprise as a going concern, or a part thereof which is capable of separate operation, shall for the purposes of this Act be deemed to be a supply of goods made in the course or furtherance of such enterprise.

 

(8) For the purposes of this Act, except section 16(3), where a vendor receives any indemnity payment under a contract of insurance or is indemnified under a contract of insurance by the payment of an amount of money to another person, that payment or indemnification, as the case may be, shall, to the extent that it relates to a loss incurred in the course of carrying on an enterprise, be deemed to be consideration received for a supply of services performed on the day of receipt of that payment or on the date of payment to such other person, as the case may be, by that vendor in the course or furtherance of his enterprise:

Provided that this subsection shall not apply—

(i) in respect of any indemnity payment received or indemnification under a contract of insurance where the supply of services contemplated by that contract is not a supply subject to tax under section 7(1)(a);
(ii) payment is made to another person as consideration for the supply of goods or services being reinstated under a contract of insurance; or
(iii) to the extent that the indemnity payment contemplated in this provision is in respect of goods or services to which the vendor receiving the payment was, upon acquisition of such goods or services, denied a deduction of input tax under section 17(2).

[Section 8(8) proviso and further proviso substituted by section 48(1)(a) of the Taxation Laws Amendment Act, 2023 (Act No. 17 of 2023), Notice No. 4226, GG49894, dated 22 December 2023 - comes into operation on 1 April 2024 (section 48(2))]

 

(8A) For the purposes of paragraph (ii) of the proviso to section 8(8) and section 16(2) and (3) and subject to the provisions of section 54(2)—
(a) the person supplying the goods or services being reinstated under a contract of insurance is deemed to make a supply to each person that is liable to pay any part of the consideration in respect thereof; and
(b) notwithstanding paragraph (i) of the proviso to section 20(1), if the person supplying the reinstated goods or services in paragraph (a) is a vendor, that vendor must issue a tax invoice to each person that is liable to make a payment of consideration in respect thereof and such tax invoice must reflect the consideration paid or payable by each person.

[Section 8(8A) inserted by section 48(1)(b) of the Taxation Laws Amendment Act, 2023 (Act No. 17 of 2023), Notice No. 4226, GG49894, dated 22 December 2023 - comes into operation on 1 April 2024 (section 48(2))]

 

(9) For the purposes of this Act, where any vendor in carrying on an enterprise in the Republic consigns or delivers goods to an address outside the Republic or provides any service to or for the purposes of his branch or main business outside the Republic in respect of which the provisions of paragraph (ii) of the proviso to the definition of "enterprise" in section 1 are applicable, the vendor shall be deemed to supply such goods or service in the course or furtherance of his enterprise.

 

(10) For the purposes of this Act—
(a) where any goods are repossessed; or
(b) where there is a surrender of goods,

under an instalment credit agreement, a supply of such goods shall be deemed to be made by the debtor under such instalment credit agreement to the person exercising his right of possession, and where such debtor is a vendor the supply shall be deemed to be made in the course or furtherance of his enterprise unless such goods did not form part of the assets held or used by him for the purposes of his enterprise.

 

(11) For the purposes of this Act, a supply of the use or right to use or the grant of permission to use any goods (whether with or without a driver, pilot, crew or operator) under any rental agreement, instalment credit agreement, charter party, agreement for charter or any other agreement under which such use or permission to use is granted, shall be deemed to be a supply of goods.

 

(12) [Section 8(12) deleted by Act No. 136 of 1992].

 

(13) For the purposes of this Act, where any person bets an amount on the outcome of a race or on any other event or occurrence, the person with whom the bet is placed shall be deemed to supply a service to such first-mentioned person.

 

(13A) For the purposes of this Act, except section 16(3), where any vendor who makes taxable supplies of services contemplated in subsection (13) of this section, receives any amount paid by any other vendor as a prize or winnings in consequence of a supply of such services made by the last-mentioned vendor to the first-mentioned vendor, the first-mentioned vendor shall be deemed to supply a service to the last-mentioned vendor.

 

(14) For the purposes of this Act—
(a) where any goods are supplied by a vendor to a person otherwise than in the circumstances contemplated in paragraph 2(b) of the Seventh Schedule to the Income Tax Act, and a deduction under section 16(3) in respect of the acquisition by the vendor of those goods was denied in terms of section 17(2) or would have been denied if section 7 of this Act had been applicable prior to the commencement date, the vendor shall be deemed to have supplied the goods otherwise than in the course or furtherance of his enterprise;
(b) where any input tax is allowed in terms of section 18(9) in respect of a game viewing vehicle or a hearse as contemplated in paragraph (e) or (f) of the definition of ‘motor car’ in section 1, the subsequent supply of that game viewing vehicle or hearse shall be deemed to be supplied in the course of the vendor’s enterprise.

 

(14A) For the purposes of this Act, where input tax has been allowed on the conversion of a game viewing vehicle or a hearse, as contemplated in paragraph (e) or (f) of the definition of "motor car" in section 1 and that game viewing vehicle or hearse is subsequently applied for purposes other than those purposes as contemplated in paragraph (e) or (f) of the definition of ‘motor car’ in section 1, a supply of that game viewing vehicle or hearse shall be deemed to take place.

 

(15) For the purposes of this Act, where a single supply of goods or services or of goods and services would, if separate considerations had been payable, have been charged with tax in part at the rate applicable under section 11, each part of the supply concerned shall be deemed to be a separate supply: Provided that this subsection does not apply to a single charge as contemplated in paragraph (a) of the proviso to the definition of ‘municipal rate’ in section 1.

 

(16)
(a) The supply by a vendor—
(i) of any goods (other than fixed property acquired prior to the commencement date by a vendor who is a natural person if such property was used by him mainly as his private residence and no deduction of any amount has been made by him under section 16(3) in respect of such property); or
(ii) of services,

where such goods or services were acquired or imported by him partly for the purpose of consumption, use or supply in the course of making taxable supplies (including supplies which would have been taxable supplies if section 7 of this Act had been applicable prior to the commencement date) and were held or utilized by him partly for the said purpose immediately prior to the supply by him of such goods or services, shall be deemed to be made wholly in the course or furtherance of his enterprise.

(b) The supply by any vendor of fixed property acquired prior to the commencement date by such vendor, being a natural person, shall be deemed to be made otherwise than in the course or furtherance of his enterprise provided—
(i) such property was used by him prior to such supply mainly as his private residence; and
(ii) no deduction of any amount has been made by him under section 16(3) in respect of such property.

 

(17)
(a) For the purposes of this Act, where, together with the supply of a share referred to in the definition of "fixed property" in section 1, any amount of the loan obligation, as defined in section 1 of the Share Blocks Control Act, of the share block company is allocated as contemplated in section 14 of that Act, or any amount of the loan obligation thus allocated is delegated, or any interest in or right to be paid money that is, or is to be, owing by the share block company under its loan obligation is transferred to any person who is or will be a shareholder of such share block company, such allocation, delegation or transfer, as the case may be, shall be deemed to form part of the supply of such share.
(b) For the purposes of this Act, where any allocation, delegation or transfer as contemplated in paragraph (a) is made without the supply of a share referred to in the definition of "fixed property" in section 1 and otherwise than in the circumstances contemplated in that paragraph, such allocation, delegation or transfer shall be deemed to constitute the supply of a share referred to in the said definition.

 

(18) For the purposes of the definition of "input tax" in section 1 and section 18(4) and (5), as applicable to any share block company, any taxable supply of a share referred to in subsection (17) made on or after a date fixed by the Minister by notice in the Gazette by a share block developer where such share is a share in a share block scheme in respect of which that developer is a share block developer as contemplated in section 1 of the Share Blocks Control Act, shall be deemed to have been made by the share block company in relation to which that developer is a share block developer, to the extent that—
(a) the supply of such share to such developer was not a taxable supply by such company to such developer; or
(b) such developer was not or will not in terms of section 16(3) be entitled to make a deduction of input tax referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition of "input tax" in section 1 in respect of the supply of such share to him.

 

(19) For the purposes of this Act, where any supply of—
(a) goods consisting of immovable property is made by a share block company—
(i) in the circumstances referred to in item 8 of Schedule 1 to the Share Blocks Control Act; or
(ii) as a result of a sale by that share block company of that immovable property to a person who held a right of exclusive use of that immovable property, which right was conferred by reason of the ownership of a share by that person in that share block company; or
(b) services comprising the waiving of rights against a share block company is made to that share block company—
(i) in the circumstances referred to in Item 8 of Schedule 1 to the Share Blocks Control Act; or
(ii) by a person as part of a sale contemplated in paragraph (a)(ii),

such supply shall be deemed to have been made otherwise than in the course or furtherance of an enterprise.

[Section 8(19) substituted by section 146(b) of the Taxation Laws Amendment Act, 2012 (Act No. 22 of 2012)].

 

(20) For the purposes of this Act, where an importation of goods is deemed to have been made by an agent in the circumstances contemplated in section 54(2A)(b), such agent shall be deemed to make a supply of goods to the recipient of the supply by the principal, as contemplated in subparagraph (iii) of that section.

 

(21) For the purposes of this Act, compensation or any other payment, other than an amount contemplated in section 12(a), received by a vendor in consequence of the expropriation of fixed property, is deemed to be received in respect of a supply of goods made in the course or furtherance of an enterprise unless that fixed property forms no part of the assets held or used by the vendor for the purposes of an enterprise.

 

(22) For the purposes of this Act, where two or more public higher education institutions or one or more subdivisions of such institutions are merged with or incorporated into a single public higher education institution in terms of a direction by the Minister of Education in terms of section 23 or 24 of the Higher Education Act, 1997 (Act No. 101 of 1997), such institutions or such subdivisions thereof prior to the merger or incorporation and the newly merged or incorporated single institutions shall be deemed to be one and the same institution.

 

(23) For the purposes of this Act a vendor shall be deemed to supply services to any public authority or municipality to the extent of any payment made to or on behalf of that vendor in terms of a national housing programme contemplated in the Housing Act, 1997 (Act No. 107 of 1997).

[Section 8(23) substituted by section 78(1) of Act No. 17 of 2017]

 

(24) For the purposes of this Act, a vendor, being a customs controlled area enterprise or an SEZ operator, shall be deemed to supply goods in the course or furtherance of an enterprise where movable goods are temporarily removed from a place in a customs controlled area to a place outside the customs controlled area, situated in the Republic, if those goods are not returned to the customs controlled area within 30 days of its removal, or within a period approved in writing by the Controller: Provided that this subsection shall not apply where  those movable goods are supplied by the customs controlled area enterprise or SEZ operator, prior to the expiry of the relevant prescribed time period: Provided further that this subsection shall not apply to—
(a) goods that are deemed to have been imported under paragraph (i) of the proviso to section 13(1); or
(b) goods to which section 18(10) previously applied.

[Section 8(24) substituted by section 24(1)(a) of the Tax Administration Laws Amendment Act, 2016 (Act No. 16 of 2016)]

 

(25) For the purposes of this Act, where any goods or services are supplied by a vendor to another vendor, those vendors must for purposes of that supply or subsequent supplies of those goods or services, be deemed to be one and the same person provided the provisions of section 42, 44, 45 or 47 of the Income Tax Act are complied with: Provided that this subsection shall not apply to a supply contemplated in section 42 or 45 of the Income Tax Act, unless—
(i) that supply is of an enterprise or part of an enterprise which is capable of separate operation, where the supplier and recipient have agreed in writing that such enterprise or part, as the case may be, is disposed of as a going concern;
(ii) the enterprise or part, as the case may be, disposed of as a going concern has been carried on in, on or in relation to goods or services applied mainly for purposes of such enterprise or part, as the case may be, and partly for other purposes, such goods or services shall, where disposed of to such recipient, for the purposes of this paragraph be deemed to form part of such enterprise or part, as the case may be, notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (v) of the proviso to the definition of 'enterprise' in section 1; or
(iii) the supply is of fixed property and the supplier and the recipient have agreed in writing that, immediately after the supply, the supplier will lease the fixed property from the recipient.

Provided further that this subsection shall not apply to a supply as contemplated in section 42 or 45 of the Income Tax Act, where such supplier and recipient have agreed in writing that the provisions of subsection (7) and section 11(1)(e) of this Act shall apply.

[Section 8(25) further proviso inserted by section 62(1) of the Taxation Laws Amendment Act, 2020 (Act No. 23 of 2020), GG44083, dated 20 January 2021 - comes into operation on 1 April 2021 (Section 62(2)]

[Section 8(25) substituted by section 68(1)(b) of the Taxation Laws Amendment Act, 2019 (Act No. 34 of 2019), GG42951, dated 15 January 2020 - effective 1 April 2020 (Section 68(2)]

 

(26) The supply of goods or services under any warranty agreement shall, for the purposes of section 11(2)(v), be deemed to be a supply of services.

 

(27) For the purposes of this Act, where any amount received in respect of a taxable supply of goods or services at the rate of specified in section 7(1) exceeds the consideration charged for that supply, and such excess amount has not been refunded within four months of receipt thereof, that excess amount shall be deemed to be consideration for a supply of services performed by the vendor in the course or furtherance of that vendor’s enterprise on the last day of the tax period during which that four month period ends.

[Section 8(27) substituted by section 10(1) of Notice No.18 of 2019, GG 42171, dated 17 January 2019 (Rates and Monetary Amounts and Revenue Laws Act (Act 21 of 2018) - effective 1 April  2018]

 

(28) Where a municipality transfers any assets, liabilities, rights and obligations to another municipality pursuant to the merger, creation, adjustment or disestablishment of municipalities as a result of any municipal boundary change as envisaged under the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act, 1998 (Act No. 117 of 1998)—
(a) the transferring municipality and the recipient municipality shall be regarded as being one and the same person if such municipalities are merged into a single municipality; and
(b) the transferring municipality shall not be deemed to have made a supply to the recipient municipality if both municipalities continue to exist after such municipal boundary change.

[Section 8(28) inserted by section 78(1)(b) of Act No. 17 of 2017 - effective 1 April 2018]

 

(29) For the purposes of this Act, a supply of leasehold improvements by a vendor, being a lessee, shall be deemed to be a supply of goods in the course or furtherance of the lessee’s enterprise to the extent that the leasehold improvements are made for no consideration: Provided that this subsection shall not apply where such leasehold improvements are wholly for consumption, use or supply in the course of making other than taxable supplies by the lessee.

[Section 8(29) inserted by section 78(1)(b) of Act No. 17 of 2017 - effective 1 April 2018]