I have seeing countless private individuals on the short end of the stick when it comes to postal clearances. Just stand at the receiving counter of any post office where foreign parcels are received. You will hear the horror expressed by mostly elderly people who have to pay excessive duties and Vat for parcels sent as gifts from abroad.
There have being allot of rumors regarding the applicability of a COO (Certificate of Origin) form over the past few years. Some say that SARS have done away with the need to produce a DA 59 (the form traditionally used to as a COO).
Most small discounts of a few percentage points may be acceptable to SARS when clearing goods through Customs. The problem arises when the discounted amount is excessive.
Proof of payment is often required by SARS Customs in order to verify the correctness of invoice amounts.
[The SARS requirement for proof of payment is no longer aligned to the way that banks operate…]
We have seeing allot of controversy in the recent past created by the need for freight statements. Why has this become so important?
It has to do with the costs, charges and expenses reflected on the commercial invoice. Charges are often deducted from the Customs value as non-dutiable charges. As usual, this affects the Customs value and hence, the duties and Vat payable. This was also discussed in the blog titled… “Terms of Sale on a Commercial Invoice”.
