Electronic Invoicing in South Africa
Is e-invoicing mandatory in South Africa ?
South Africa (ZA) is currently using primarily the post-audit invoicing model, which is the traditional way that all tax administrators used in the past. When it comes to e-invoicing, its use in B2B is allowed but not mandatory, although is widespread in the country.
As a matter of fact, South Africa is one of the first African countries to have specifically regulated, accepted, and implemented the use of e-invoicing; provided that certain rules are observed (similar content rules to non-electronic invoices); such as guaranteeing the integrity and security of the invoice, using, for example, digital signature, EDI or, any means, such as Business Controls Audit Trail.
In addition, the Treasury of South Africa, the South African Revenue Service – SARS has defined what the e-Invoice should look like and the conditions for its e-Archiving are strict, requiring as a general rule, that the e-invoices should be archived locally unless specific derogation is granted.
Furthermore, written acceptance from the buyer is required for e-invoicing.
Want to learn more about e-Invoicing compliance?
Download our Global e-invoicing and Tax Compliance fact sheet here for more information.
Archiving
The storage period in South Africa is 5 years, from the date that the relevant VAT return is submitted.
By general rule, Tax records must be held within the country; storage abroad is allowed with a derogation only in countries of tax assistance treaty with South Africa. Any records kept outside South Africa require approval from SARS. Today, issuing of approvals for storage abroad has been suspended due to upcoming regulations. However, changes in e-archiving are expected in the foreseeing future.
Want to know more about Basware’s archiving services?
Download our Basware Vault fact sheet here to learn more about our flexible and scalable solution.
Basware Services
English is widely spoken in business circles and is the official language in South Africa. For those reasons, only English is supported at this time.
Want to find out how we can help in your specific case?
Speak to a member of our team to learn more.
Interoperability
Basware currently has no connection to any interoperability partners in South Africa.
Our advice
Paper, particularly handwritten invoices remains a challenge.
Our supplier portal and CloudScan, PDF, and Scan PDF could assist in digitalizing paper invoices.
Want to understand how we can help in your case?
Get in touch with our experts.
