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South Africa VAT Rates 2026

South Africa (South Africa / Suid-Afrika) levies Value Added Tax under the name VAT Registration Number. The standard rate is 15%, applied to most goods and services. Reduced rates of 0% apply to essential categories including food, medicines, and cultural services.

Access rates via API

The TaxID API returns current VAT rates for all 27 EU countries. Use the /api/v1/rates/ZA endpoint to get South Africa rates programmatically. Responses are cached for 24 hours.

curl http://localhost:3000/api/v1/rates/ZA
# No authentication required for rate lookups

# Response:
# { "country_code": "ZA", "standard_rate": 15,
#   "reduced_rates": [0], "currency": "ZAR" }

Applying the correct rate in code

For B2B intra-EU sales, validate the customer's VAT number first. A valid registration means reverse charge applies — you charge 0% and the customer self-accounts. For B2C, charge the South Africa standard rate.

// 1. Validate the customer's South Africa VAT number
const vatCheck = await fetch(
  'http://localhost:3000/api/v1/validate/ZA/CUSTOMER_VAT',
  { headers: { Authorization: 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' } }
).then(r => r.json());

// 2. Fetch current South Africa VAT rates (no auth required)
const rates = await fetch('http://localhost:3000/api/v1/rates/ZA').then(r => r.json());
// → { standard_rate: 15, reduced_rates: [0] }

// 3. Apply the correct VAT treatment
if (vatCheck.valid) {
  // B2B intra-EU: reverse charge — you invoice 0%, customer self-accounts
  applyRate(0, 'reverse_charge');
} else {
  // B2C: charge the South Africa standard rate
  applyRate(rates.standard_rate, 'standard');
}

About South Africa VAT

South Africa's VAT rate is 15%. All South African VAT numbers start with the digit 4 and are 10 digits total. Businesses with annual taxable supplies exceeding ZAR 1 million must register. SARS administers VAT and verifies registration status through its eFiling portal.

The South Africa VAT Registration Number is administered by the national tax authority and validated through the EU VIES system. Before applying any VAT rate or zero-rate exemption to a South Africa business customer, validate their VAT registration number first.

VAT rates in other EU countries