New requirement wef 1 March 2005



Estate agents, property managers and developers should take note of a new requirement for VAT invoices, which comes into effect on March 1, 2005. Bill Rawson, president of the Institute of Estate Agents, points out that from that date, when a VAT invoice, or credit note or debit note, is issued to a client who is also registered as a vendor for VAT purposes, then that client's VAT registration number must be included in the invoice. "As far as the property industry is concerned," says Rawson, "this will probably affect developers, property managers and commercial brokers more than it will the residential sector. Residential estate agencies charge VAT on their commissions, but relatively few of their clients - sellers and landlords - would be registered as vendors and so they would therefore not have registration numbers." VAT registration numbers can be looked up on the "VAT Vendor Search" section of the SA Revenue Services website (www.sars.gov.za).