VAT Export Regulations Amended: Terminal Operators Now Count
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On 25 August 2026, National Treasury issued Government Gazette No. 55245, making amendments under section 74(1) of the Value-Added Tax Act, 1991. Only regulation 8(2)(e)(ii) was changed which deals with one of the conditions a vendor must meet before electing to charge VAT at zero per cent on movable goods that are still in South Africa when they are sold, but are destined for export.
The old wording said the goods had to be delivered to the port authority, the master of the ship, a container operator, the pilot of an aircraft, or brought within the control area of the airport authority.
The new wording keeps all of that and adds a bracket. Delivery to the port authority now includes delivery to "any terminal operator operating under a license of the port authority in terms of section 57 read with section 65 of the National Ports Act, No. 12 of 2005".
Why this matters
Regulation 8 sits in Part Two, Section A of the Export Regulations. It gives a vendor the option to charge VAT at zero per cent where movable goods are sold to a qualifying purchaser or a registered vendor, delivered to a harbour or airport in South Africa, and destined for export.
The problem was the word "delivered". Read strictly, the goods had to reach the port authority itself, meaning Transnet National Ports Authority.
Treasury used Richards Bay Coal Terminal as the example. RBCT is privately owned, sits inside the Richards Bay port limits, leases the berths and channels from Transnet, and holds a dry bulk terminal operator licence. Once coal lands on an RBCT stockpile it can only be loaded onto a ship. There are no facilities to move it onto trains or trucks for inland transport.
Even so, delivery to RBCT did not tick the box in regulation 8(2)(e)(ii). The supplier could not elect the zero rate on goods that were physically incapable of staying in the country. Treasury called this a practical difficulty in application. Vendors called it 15% VAT on an export.
What this means for your clients
The amendment is deemed to have come into operation on 1 April 2026. That is retrospective, and it is the part worth acting on.
If a client supplied movable goods between 1 April 2026 and now, and delivered them to a licensed terminal operator inside a port, check how the supply was treated. Where VAT was charged at 15% because of the old wording, there may be room to correct the treatment and issue credit notes.
Three checks before you rely on the change:
Confirm the operator actually holds a licence from the port authority under section 57 read with section 65 of the National Ports Act. The concession is licence-based, not location-based. A warehouse near a harbour does not qualify.
Confirm the buyer is a qualifying purchaser or a registered vendor, and that the goods were destined for export.
Keep the documentary proof. The election is still an election, and SARS still expects the file to support it. As covered in Your Evidence for Zero-Rating Just Got an Update. Are You Ready?, Interpretation Note 31 Issue 5 sets out exactly what that proof must look like.
One narrow amendment. One backdated date. One conversation worth having with every client who moves goods through a port.
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