Hi all,

As the heading says, I registered my small business for VAT. I now have to start recording transactions with VAT and I have asked my accountants about it and she has not responded in two days. So I thougt I might just ask here and see if there is a better response.

I received a letter from SARS on 11 Feb 2020 stating, inter alia that: "… a 12 month tax period with the following catagory has been allocated:
The last day of each of the twelve months of the calandar year.”

I’m not quite sure what that means. Does it mean I have to pay VAT every month (not every two months)? My accounting software (Quickbooks) wants me to enter a “Start of VAT period”. So do I enter that as January, since SARS says the catagory allocated is “The last day of each of the twelve months of the calandar year.”

Two further general questions:

In my accounting software, must I now register each shop/outlet seperately as a “Supplier” with its own VAT number for every expense purchase? For example, up to now, I have in my Chart of Accounts and expense account called “Electricity” and all pre paid electricity purchases go through this single account, notwithstanding the fact that I purchase prepaid electricity from diffirent vendors. Another example is I buy diesel from different garages but all go through “Travel Expenses” account. Must I register each garage separately in Quickbooks, each with its own VAT number and record each purchase as a VAT expense under that supplier?

Must I print out and keep hard copies of all VAT invoices from vendors?

Any input (no pun intended) will be appreciated.

Thanks,

Andre