Primary Legislation

SARS administers a wide range of legislation in terms of Part 1 and Schedule 1 to the South African Revenue Service Act, 1997.

The following Acts are examples of the primary legislation SARS administers:

• Income Tax Act, 1962
• Customs and Excise Act, 1964
• Value-Added Tax Act, 1991
• Tax Administration Act, 2011
• Employment Tax Incentive Act, 2013

Any amendments to primary legislation announced by the Minister of Finance in his annual Budget Review are presented to Parliament in Amendment Bills for approval before being submitted to the President for assent and promulgation in the Government Gazette as Amendment Acts.

Amendment Bills are divided into two types, namely –

• those drafted in terms of section 75 of the Constitution, known as ‘administration Bills’, and
• those drafted in terms of section 77 of the Constitution, known as ‘money Bills’

The Schedules to the Customs and Excise Act, 1964 are commonly known as the “Tariff Book” and consist of Schedules Nos. 1 to 6, 8 and 10. When any Notice (Tariff Amendments) is published to amend any of the tariff items, headings or subheadings, rates of duties or levies, the relevant Schedule is updated accordingly and replaced on the website.

Access to Information

There are also Acts of Parliament that are not administered by SARS, but under which SARS is bound to exercise certain duties. For more on this, click on Access to Information.

Top tip: All current legislation administered by SARS is accessible via LexisNexis . If you see a message ‘You are not subscribed to the requested publication’ it means it is legislation not administered by SARS.

A number of current statutes – including legislation not administered by SARS – are provided free of charge by the University of Pretoria in conjunction with the Southern African Legal Information Institute (SAFLII) on Laws of South Africa.