Bad news for shoppers

This will make it simple to facilitate movement of goods.’

- Ina Opperman

After it seemed that online shops Shein and Temu could continue selling in South Africa without paying the requisite custom duties for the time being, the South African Revenue Service (Sars) has announced that it will now crack down on them in the interim by introducing VAT in addition to the current 20% flat rate customs duty from next month.

Sars says it remains committed to providing clarity and certainty in the implementation of its mandate of promoting legitimate trade for the economic development of the country in an era of rapidly expanding e-commerce.

"This will be achieved by making it simple and easy to facilitate an increased movement of goods.

According to this mandate, Sars noted legitimate concerns expressed about several imported goods, especially clothing, via e-commerce by a number of importers who are not paying the obligatory customs duties and VAT, resulting in unfair competition with other industry players."