# Regulatory Compliance Category > Tax Forum > [Question] Newly VAT Registered Company

## Alandt

Good day,

I have registered my company for VAT on Friday, 7 October 2016 and my VAT Liability Date has been set to the 1st of October 2016.

I contacted all suppliers, requesting them to update my account with the VAT Number, then I requested from suppliers where I purchased items from that they credit my invoices and reinvoice me with the VAT Number on it, so that I can claim it as input vat.

However, the one supplier simply said that they are unable to credit my "old" invoice, and reinvoice me, as I was not registered for VAT when the purchase was made (which is the 5th of October).

Are they allowed to do this? 

I hope that someone will be able to provide me with some clearance on this. 

Thank you in advance...

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## HR Solutions

What do you mean by -  "are they allowed to do this" 

Have you got your vat no already ?

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## Dave A

What is the value of the bill in question?

As an aside, I'm not confident enough of the legal position to say the supplier must accommodate the request, but I certainly would consider using a more client-centric supplier going forward.

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## Richard S

Surely if your supplier is a vat vendor all his invoices must include vat?

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## bammer

> Good day,
> 
> I have registered my company for VAT on Friday, 7 October 2016 and my VAT Liability Date has been set to the 1st of October 2016.
> 
> I contacted all suppliers, requesting them to update my account with the VAT Number, then I requested from suppliers where I purchased items from that they credit my invoices and reinvoice me with the VAT Number on it, so that I can claim it as input vat.
> 
> However, the one supplier simply said that they are unable to credit my "old" invoice, and reinvoice me, as I was not registered for VAT when the purchase was made (which is the 5th of October).
> 
> Are they allowed to do this? 
> ...



I suggest you consider the following thread which includes a list of circumstances in which a supplier may issue a credit note for VAT purposes:

http://www.theforumsa.co.za/forums/s...uidated-debtor

In my view, since this is not a credit note event as provided for in section 21 of the VAT Act, the supplier is correct not to issue you with a credit note.

Further, in terms of section 20(5) of the VAT Act, if the consideration in money for a supply does not exceed R5 000, a tax invoice does not have to contain the recipient's name, address or VAT registration number. It follows that you should not have an issue in respect of invoices below R5 000 (including VAT). 

With regards to invoices exceeding R5 000, an ancient edition of SARS' VAT News (which I will try to find) provided that the recipient should simply request the supplier to write the VAT number in pen on the invoice and send it back to you - not that it is required, but ask the supplier if it will also add a signature and date and/or a company stamp to support that the details were added by the supplier.

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Dave A (12-Oct-16)

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## HR Solutions

There is still the date issue.  Theoretically you cannot claim for invoices issued before the registration date.

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## Dave A

> There is still the date issue.  Theoretically you cannot claim for invoices issued before the registration date.


By chance I spotted this article by SARS issued on 3rd October 2016 relating to new VAT registrations. 

Under "How does the VAT liability date work?" it says the following:

 In terms of voluntary VAT registrations submitted via eFiling, please note that the VAT liability date will be set in accordance with your date of registration. If you have charged VAT or are under a contractual obligation to charge VAT prior to applying for registration, you must visit a SARS branch with the necessary supporting documents such as signed contracts or invoices issued to prove the backdated liability request.

 For VAT registrations with taxable supplies exceeding R1 million (also referred to as compulsory registrations), the eFiling RAV01 VAT registration process will not allow backdating for more than six months from the date of registration. If the date entered exceeds six months, SARS will reset the date to the date of the application. Please visit a SARS branch if the backdating exceeds  six months with the necessary supporting documents such as financial statements, signed contracts or invoices issued.

*Top Tip*: VAT liability date backdating requests submitted at the SARS branch will only be considered for new and existing registration if the vendor can provide sufficient supporting documents proving the backdated liability. Kindly note that all other associated registration related supporting documents are still applicable. For VAT liability date backdating requests specifically, you will be expected to provide invoices, signed contracts or financial statements to motivate the backdating.

In the OP, Alandt says the VAT Liability Date has been set down for 1st October 2016.

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## Alandt

I meant are they allowed to decline my request to re-invoice me with the VAT No.

And yes, I have received on the same day at the SARS Branch.

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## Alandt

Value of the bill is just under 5k.

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## Alandt

My supplier is a VAT Registered Vendor, and invoices does include VAT, but I was in the dark about if I am able to claim input VAT on the amount paid.

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## Alandt

> I suggest you consider the following thread which includes a list of circumstances in which a supplier may issue a credit note for VAT purposes:
> 
> http://www.theforumsa.co.za/forums/s...uidated-debtor
> 
> In my view, since this is not a credit note event as provided for in section 21 of the VAT Act, the supplier is correct not to issue you with a credit note.
> 
> Further, in terms of section 20(5) of the VAT Act, if the consideration in money for a supply does not exceed R5 000, a tax invoice does not have to contain the recipient's name, address or VAT registration number. It follows that you should not have an issue in respect of invoices below R5 000 (including VAT). 
> 
> With regards to invoices exceeding R5 000, an ancient edition of SARS' VAT News (which I will try to find) provided that the recipient should simply request the supplier to write the VAT number in pen on the invoice and send it back to you - not that it is required, but ask the supplier if it will also add a signature and date and/or a company stamp to support that the details were added by the supplier.


Thank you for this!

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## Alandt

> There is still the date issue.  Theoretically you cannot claim for invoices issued before the registration date.


You are correct, I ended up phoning and revisiting SARS. I am only able to claim/charge VAT on Invoices after the registration date.

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## Alandt

> By chance I spotted this article by SARS issued on 3rd October 2016 relating to new VAT registrations. 
> 
> Under "How does the VAT liability date work?" it says the following:
> 
> • In terms of voluntary VAT registrations submitted via eFiling, please note that the VAT liability date will be set in accordance with your date of registration. If you have charged VAT or are under a contractual obligation to charge VAT prior to applying for registration, you must visit a SARS branch with the necessary supporting documents such as signed contracts or invoices issued to prove the backdated liability request.
> 
> • For VAT registrations with taxable supplies exceeding R1 million (also referred to as compulsory registrations), the eFiling RAV01 VAT registration process will not allow backdating for more than six months from the date of registration. If the date entered exceeds six months, SARS will reset the date to the date of the application. Please visit a SARS branch if the backdating exceeds  six months with the necessary supporting documents such as financial statements, signed contracts or invoices issued.
> 
> *Top Tip*: VAT liability date backdating requests submitted at the SARS branch will only be considered for new and existing registration if the vendor can provide sufficient supporting documents proving the backdated liability. Kindly note that all other associated registration related supporting documents are still applicable. For VAT liability date backdating requests specifically, you will be expected to provide invoices, signed contracts or financial statements to motivate the backdating.
> ...


Hi Dave,

Thank you for the link to the article. The consultant on SARS told me that I need to visit the branch with all supporting documents that I have, to accommodate my request to have invoices backdated. Then if they are happy with the proof, I will receive a letter confirming that I am liable to request backdated invoices etc. 

Came down to the decision that I will just claim/charge VAT from the Date of Registration.

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## dellatjie

@ Alandt, in the VAT Act it is clearly stated that a VAT Vendor is not allowed to supply more than one invoice for the same transaction, so your supplier are within their rights to refuse to issue another invoice:

_(1) 	Except as otherwise provided in this section, a supplier, being a registered vendor, making a taxable supply (other than a supply contemplated in section 8(10)) to a recipient, must within 21 days of the date of that supply issue a tax invoice containing such particulars as are specified in this section: Provided that
(i) 	it shall not be lawful to issue more than one tax invoice for each taxable supply;
(ii) 	if a vendor claims to have lost the original tax invoice, the supplier or the recipient, as the case may be, may provide a copy clearly marked "copy".
_

That being said, the requirements for Tax Invoices below R5000 are not as strict as the requirements for supplies above R5000. They do not need to include your VAT Registration number. Here are the requirements for <R5000:

_(a) 	The words "tax invoice", 'VAT invoice' or 'invoice';

[Paragraph (a) amended by section 26(b) of the Tax Administration Laws Amendment Act, 2015 (Act No. 23 of 2015)]
(b) 	the name, address and VAT registration number of the supplier;
(c) 	an individual serialized number and the date upon which the tax invoice is issued;
(d) 	a description of the goods (indicating, where applicable, that the goods are second-hand goods) or services supplied;
(e) 	either
(i) 	the value of the supply, the amount of tax charged and the consideration for the supply; or
(ii) 	where the amount of tax charged is calculated by applying the tax fraction to the consideration, the consideration for the supply and either the amount of the tax charged, or a statement that it includes a charge in respect of the tax and the rate at which the tax was charged:
_

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