Kivora Operations Team · Reviewed by Kivora

When a South African online store must register for VAT

Updated 2026-08-22 · 4 min read

Quick answer

Registration is compulsory once taxable supplies exceed R2.3 million in any consecutive twelve-month period — a threshold that rose from R1 million on 1 April 2026. Voluntary registration is available from R120 000 of taxable supplies a year. A store below the threshold is not VAT-registered, must not charge VAT or issue tax invoices, and should say so plainly rather than leaving customers to guess.

Two numbers decide this, and one of them changed recently enough that older guidance found online is now wrong. From 1 April 2026 the compulsory registration threshold is R2.3 million of taxable supplies in any consecutive twelve-month period, up from R1 million. Voluntary registration became available at R120 000 a year, up from R50 000.

The twelve-month window is rolling rather than a financial year, which catches growing stores by surprise: the obligation can arise mid-year on the strength of the preceding twelve months.

The two thresholds

Compulsory registration applies once the value of taxable supplies made, or reasonably expected to be made, exceeds R2.3 million in any consecutive twelve-month period. It is an obligation, not a choice, and the test looks backwards over any twelve months rather than at a tax year.

Voluntary registration is available at a much lower level and is sometimes worth it for a business whose customers are themselves VAT-registered, or which carries substantial input VAT. It also brings filing obligations, so it is a decision with an administrative cost attached.

Compulsory: taxable supplies above R2.3 million in any 12 consecutive months
Voluntary: from R120 000 of taxable supplies a year
Both figures changed on 1 April 2026 — older guidance quotes R1 million and R50 000

What it means for displayed prices

A registered vendor's displayed prices to consumers include VAT, and the store can issue a tax invoice showing its VAT number. An unregistered business must do neither: charging an amount described as VAT, or issuing something headed 'tax invoice', when not registered is a misstatement to the customer as well as a tax problem.

The clean approach for a store below the threshold is to say nothing about VAT on product pages and state the position once, in the terms, so a customer looking for it can find it.

Registered: prices to consumers include VAT; tax invoices carry the VAT number
Not registered: no VAT line, no VAT number, no document headed tax invoice
State the position once in the terms rather than on every page

Watching the rolling window

Because the test is any consecutive twelve months, a store can cross the threshold without any single financial year showing it. Track taxable supplies on a rolling twelve-month basis rather than checking at year end.

The obligation also arises on reasonable expectation, not only on history: a signed contract or a committed run rate that will clearly take the business past the threshold can trigger it before the revenue lands.

Track the rolling twelve-month total, not the financial year
Registration can be triggered by reasonable expectation, not only history
Confirm the current threshold with SARS before acting — it moved in 2026

How this guide was prepared

Thresholds are taken from the South African Revenue Service's published guidance and were checked on 22 August 2026. Tax thresholds change: confirm the current figures with SARS or a registered tax practitioner before acting. This is operational guidance and not tax advice.