Particulars that a tax invoice must contain for supplies made by electronic service providers

Government Gazette Notice number 45616 dated 10 December 2021 (hereinafter referred to as “GG 45616”) was issued with the purpose of entailing the particulars that a tax invoice must contain if the supply by a vendor is in relation to electronic services as contemplated in paragraphs (b)(vi) and (b)(vii) of the definition of “enterprise” in section 1(1) of the VAT Act. The Government Gazette referred to can be accessed here.

Prior to the release of GG 45616, the requirements of a tax invoice for an electronic services provider were contained in Binding General Ruling No. 28 (“BGR 28”). Per GG 45616, the tax invoice will now need to reflect the VAT number of the recipient if the recipient is a registered VAT vendor. In addition, previously in terms of BGR 28, the recipient’s address could also be an email address. GG 45616 now limits the recipient’s address to either a postal or physical address.

In terms of GG 45616, the supplier of electronic services is required to issue a tax invoice in terms of section 20(5B) of the Act and contain as a minimum, the following:

1. The name and VAT registration number of the electronic services supplier;
2. The name, address (physical or postal) and where the electronic services recipient is a vendor, the VAT registration number of the electronic services recipient;
3. An individual serialised number;
4. The date on which the tax invoice is issued;
5. A full and proper description of the electronic services supplied; and
6. The consideration in money for the supply in the currency of any country and if the consideration is reflected in the currency of—

• the Republic —
  • the value of the supply; and
  • the amount of tax charged or a statement that the consideration includes a charge in respect of the tax and the rate at which the tax was charged; or
  • any country other than the Republic—
    • the amount of the tax charged in the currency of the Republic and the exchange rate used; or
    • a separate document issued by the electronic services supplier reflecting the amount of tax charged in the currency of the Republic and the exchange rate used.

The exchange rate to be used is required to be the —

• daily exchange rate on the date the time of supply occurs;
• daily exchange rate on the last day of the month preceding the time of supply; or
• monthly average rate for the month preceding the month during which the time of supply occurs.

The exchange rate must be the rate as published by —

• the South African Reserve Bank (www.resbank.co.za);
• Bloomberg (www.bloomberg.com); or
• the European Central Bank (www.ecb.europa.eu).

07/10/2022