South African VAT on invoices: the 15% rules in plain English

South African VAT is 15%. The rules around when and how to put it on an invoice trip up a lot of freelancers and small businesses. Here's the short version.

Do you have to register?

Compulsory registration kicks in once your taxable turnover exceeds R1 million in any rolling 12-month period. You can register voluntarily from R50,000, but most freelancers shouldn't unless their clients are all VAT-registered businesses.

What a Tax Invoice must include

If you're VAT-registered and the invoice is over R5,000, SARS requires a Full Tax Invoice with:

• The words "Tax Invoice", "VAT Invoice", or "Invoice"
• Your name, address and VAT number
• The recipient's name, address and (if registered) VAT number
• A serial number and the date of issue
• Full description of goods or services supplied
• Quantity or volume supplied
• The value (excl. VAT), the VAT amount, and the total (incl. VAT)

Under R5,000 you can issue an Abridged Tax Invoice with less detail, but the safe default is to always send a full one.

Common mistakes

• Showing only the total and not the VAT line item — invalid
• Forgetting the VAT number — invalid
• Charging VAT when not registered — illegal
• Rounding incorrectly — VAT must be calculated on each line, not just the total

The easy way

Use a SARS-friendly VAT invoice template that handles the maths and includes every required field. LekkerVoice defaults to 15% VAT, ZAR, and the correct "Tax Invoice" wording when you fill in your VAT number on your profile.