On the 16 of August 2025, the National Treasury and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) published the Draft Tax Administration Laws Amendment Bill, 2025. The draft proposes amendments to the Value-Added Tax Act, introducing new definitions for electronic invoicing, electronic reporting, and an interoperability framework that would facilitate decentralized exchange of electronic documents between suppliers and recipients.
Key Changes
The legislation introduces three major components:
Definition of E-Invoice: defined as a tax invoice that must be issued, transmitted, and received in a structured electronic format allowing for automatic processing, with additional technical requirements to be specified by the Minister.
Definition E-Reporting: defined as the process of electronically submitting tax data extracted from e-invoices, e-debit notes, and e-credit notes to SARS, suppliers/service providers, and recipients (where applicable).
Interoperability Framework: defined as the use of a network of service providers where decentralized exchange of e-invoices, e-debit notes and e-credit notes occur, and that can facilitate clearance and interoperability between supplier and recipient.
While these are currently only definitions within the legislation, the South African Tax Authority seems to be establishing the legal framework for future e-invoicing and e-reporting obligations, such as the introduction of a CTC regime, which has been the trend all around the world.
Accordingly, businesses may expect:
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Future regulations detailing an e-invoicing framework and specific technical requirements for such systems
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New compliance obligations for electronic document exchange and electronic reporting
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Announcement of implementation timelines
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Requirements or options to connect to approved service providers within the interoperability framework
For future updates on South Africa and similar developments in other countries, follow our Regulatory Analysis page.
