SARS defines a VAT audit as:
An examination of the financial and accounting records and/or the supporting documents that you have submitted to determine whether you have correctly declared or claimed your VAT to or from SARS.
SARS can randomly select any VAT Vendor for an audit, which is like a spot check to ensure that your documents, information, income and VAT paid or claimed, are all declared correctly and in the right place.
If you have been selected for a VAT audit, you will be notified by SARS and they will advise on what the next steps will be.
In many cases, you may have to submit additional documents within a specified time or SARS will do a field audit. It is advisable that you cooperate in a timeous manner to the best of your ability and do not ignore notifications or requests from SARS.
SARS will usually request that 5 Customer invoices, 5 Supplier invoices and a VAT report is submitted. Generally, the invoices with the highest values are selected for submission.
The following TAX Invoice checklist by SARS must be used to ensure that all TAX invoices are compliant before the invoices are submitted to SARS.
CHECKLIST – VALUE-ADDED TAX (VAT) INVOICES
1) FULL TAX INVOICE
(this is required where the supply, including VAT, exceeds R5,000.00)
CRITERIA THAT THE INVOICE MUST MEET
- Contains the words “Tax Invoice”, “VAT Invoice” or “Invoice”
- Name, address and VAT registration number of the supplier
- Name, address and where the recipient is a vendor, the recipient’s VAT registration number
- Serial number and date of issue of invoice
- Accurate description of goods and /or services (indicating where applicable that the goods are second-hand goods)
- Quantity or volume of goods or services supplied
- Value of the supply, the amount of tax charged and the consideration of the supply (value and the tax)
2) ABRIDGED TAX INVOICE
(where the supply (including VAT) is greater than R50.00 and less than R5,000.00)
CRITERIA THAT THE INVOICE MUST MEET
- Contains the words “Tax Invoice”, “VAT Invoice” or “Invoice”
- Name, address and VAT registration number of the supplier
- Serial number and date of issue of invoice
- Accurate description of goods and /or services
- Value of the supply, the amount of tax charged and the consideration of the supply (value and the tax)