The VAT201 return: a guide for South African businesses

What is the VAT201?

The VAT201 is the VAT return. For each VAT period it declares your output tax, the VAT you charged on your sales, and your input tax, the VAT you paid on business purchases. If output is more, you pay SARS the difference; if input is more, SARS refunds you.

Who must register for VAT

From 1 April 2026, registration is compulsory once your taxable supplies exceed R 2,3 million in any 12 months (it was R 1 million before). You can register voluntarily from R 120 000 (it was R 50 000). Many pages online still quote the old figures.

Output and input VAT

The standard rate is 15%. The increases proposed for 2025 and 2026 were reversed, so it has been 15% since April 2018. On a price that includes VAT, the VAT is 15/115 of it: R 115 including VAT is R 100 plus R 15 VAT.

Type of supply	VAT charged	Can you claim input VAT on related costs?
Standard-rated	15%	Yes
Zero-rated, such as exports and certain basic foods	0%	Yes
Exempt, such as residential rent and certain financial services	None	No

To claim input VAT you need a valid tax invoice from the supplier. Input VAT on entertainment and on most passenger cars can't be claimed.

VAT periods and due dates

Most businesses file every two months. Businesses with taxable supplies above R 30 million file monthly, and some small farming businesses every six months. SARS sets your category and periods when you register.

How you file	Due
Manually	By the 25th of the month after the VAT period
On eFiling, paying through eFiling	By the last business day of the month after the VAT period

If the due date isn't a business day, it moves to the business day before it.

How to complete it

1. Close the period's books: every sales invoice and credit note, every supplier bill.
2. Total your standard-rated, zero-rated and exempt sales, and the output VAT.
3. Total the input VAT you can claim, with a valid tax invoice behind each amount, separating capital goods from other purchases.
4. Make any adjustments, such as VAT on bad debts written off.
5. Submit on eFiling and pay using the payment reference number SARS gives you.

Common mistakes

• Claiming input VAT without a valid tax invoice.
• Claiming input VAT on costs of exempt supplies, entertainment or passenger cars.
• Treating zero-rated sales as exempt, or the reverse.
• Declaring an invoice in the wrong period.
• Paying late: SARS charges a 10% penalty plus interest.

How NUMBAAS helps

NUMBAAS accounting records the VAT on every invoice and bill line as you work, and its VAT201 report totals output and input VAT for the period straight from your books. Your tax invoices carry what the VAT Act requires, and a business that isn't VAT-registered never charges VAT by mistake. You submit and pay on eFiling, as usual.

For SARS's own guidance, see sars.gov.za.