Preliminary Steps

As a foreign visitor to South Africa, you can take the following preliminary steps to ensure that the VAT refund process on your departure from South Africa, is finalized as speedily as possible.

1. Ensure that you obtain a valid Tax invoice.

   NB.1) To qualify for a VAT refund you must have purchased the goods during your stay in South Africa.  You are therefore requested to ensure that the date of the invoice falls within the period of your stay in South Africa.  If, for instance you arrived in South Africa on the 1st of June and departed on the 10th of June, all tax invoices submitted for a VAT refund purposes must reflect a date between those two dates.
   
   NB.2) With effect from 1 August 2009, any tax invoice, exceeding R3 000.00 VAT inclusive, presented for a VAT refund that does not have the purchaser’s name and address printed on the invoice by the South African vendor who supplied the goods, will not be processed for VAT refund purposes.
   
   Tax invoices exceeding R3 000.00 that have been generated by a point of sale system that does not reflect the purchaser’s name and address but which are accompanied by proof of payment reflecting the purchaser’s name, for example a credit card payment slip, will be considered.
   
   In the event that you are in possession  of an invoice exceeding R3 000.00 that does not comply with the above requirement, you may obtain a “copy tax invoice” from the South African vendor which reflects the purchaser’s name and address.  The “copy tax invoice” together with the original invoice endorsed with a “VRA goods inspected” stamp may then be lodged for processing.  In the event that the claim is lodged by post, the documents must be accompanied by a copy of the claimant’s passport reflecting entry and exit stamps from South Africa.  

2. You can also visit one of our pre-processing offices at the Clock Tower at Cape Town Waterfront and Sandton City. At these offices you will be required to submit all the invoices in respect of the goods you will be exporting from South Africa, as well as your passport.
    
3. The VRA staff will capture all relevant information on the VRA computer system and will issue you with a receipt summarizing your VAT refund claim. Please note that you are not required to present the goods for inspection at the pre-processing office.
    
4. When arriving at the point of departure from South Africa, you will be required to present the goods for inspection. Please note that the goods should be inspected by the VRA before your luggage is checked in with the airline. High value items such as watches, jewellery, camera's etc. should not be checked in but kept as hand luggage.
    
5. Once the inspection has been finalized, you can proceed to the express counter at the VRA office, as your claim details have already been captured on the VAT refund system. High value items will be inspected at this point. Should your claim comply with all requirements, a VAT refund cheque will be issued.