How to Check if a VAT Number Is Valid in South Africa

What a South African VAT number looks like

SARS describes a VAT number as a unique number of 10 digits that starts with 4. It has no letters and no "ZA" in front of it. If a number on an invoice is nine digits, has a letter in it or starts with any other digit, it isn't a South African VAT number.

The reverse doesn't hold, though. A number can have 10 digits and start with 4 and still be made up, mistyped or belong to a different business. The format only tells you the number could be real. The SARS search tells you whether it is.

Your VAT number is also separate from your income tax reference number. VAT is its own registration with its own number, and you only get one once SARS has approved your VAT application.

How to check a VAT number on SARS's VAT Vendor Search

1. Open the VAT Vendor Search. It's free, and you don't need an eFiling profile.
2. Choose whether to search by VAT number or by trading name.
3. Type the VAT number exactly as it appears on the invoice, with no spaces.
4. Run the search and compare the trading name that comes back with the name on the invoice.

A search by VAT number only returns a result when SARS finds an exact match. Searching by name is fussier. Without an eFiling profile you only get exact matches, so for a sole proprietor you type the surname, a space and the initials, and for a company you type the full registered name, "(Pty) Ltd" included. If you're logged in to eFiling, a partial name works and you get every vendor whose name starts with what you typed.

You can print the results page, which is worth doing for a large purchase or a new supplier. Keep it with the invoice.

Why check before you claim the VAT

If you're VAT registered, a valid tax invoice is what lets you claim the VAT on a purchase as input tax. SARS's own help page for the search puts it simply: a valid tax invoice must say "tax invoice" and must show the correct VAT number. A number that doesn't check out is a sign the document isn't a valid tax invoice, and that the VAT on it may not be claimable.

It's also a cheap fraud check. A supplier who adds 15% without being registered is charging a tax they have no right to charge, and the claim on your side is the one that gets questioned in an audit. A two minute search before you pay a new supplier is much easier than unpicking it later.

When a VAT number has to be on the invoice

• Under R50: you don't need a tax invoice at all, but keep the till slip with the VAT shown on it.
• Under R5,000: an abridged tax invoice is enough. It needs the supplier's VAT number but not yours.
• R5,000 or more: a full tax invoice, with both names and addresses, the supplier's VAT number, and yours if you're registered.

The full field list, with an annotated example, is in our SARS tax invoice requirements guide. If you're the one issuing invoices, give VAT-registered clients your number up front so their bookkeeper doesn't have to ask.

If the supplier isn't VAT registered

A business that isn't registered can't charge VAT, so its invoice should show a plain total with no VAT line. You pay that total and there's no input tax to claim. In your books, record the purchase with no VAT, which most accounting software calls "no VAT" or "non-vendor". There's a narrow exception for some second-hand goods bought from non-vendors, called notional input tax, and VAT 404 sets out its conditions.

If you're the business that isn't registered, our guide to invoicing when you're not VAT registered covers what to put on your invoices instead.

What to do if the number doesn't come up

• Check for a typing error. One wrong digit gives you no result.
• Search by name as well, using the exact registered name rather than the brand on their letterhead.
• Ask the supplier for their VAT Notice of Registration, the document people still call a VAT103. Our VAT103 guide explains what it is.
• Hold off claiming the VAT until it's sorted out, and ask for a corrected tax invoice if the number on it was wrong.

A newly registered vendor may not have a number yet if SARS is still reviewing their application. Our eFiling registration guide explains that review.

Check your own listing too

Clients can run the same search on you. (If you don't have your own number to hand, our guide to finding your VAT number lists where it is.) Search your own VAT number now and then, and make sure the trading name on your invoices matches what SARS shows. If they don't match, update your invoice details or your SARS registered details so a careful client's bookkeeper doesn't stall your payment.

Doing this in Invo

Add your VAT number in your business settings and every tax invoice shows it, along with your client's VAT number when you've saved one on their record. Invo heads the document "Tax invoice" when it carries VAT and "Invoice" when it doesn't. On the cost side, expenses mark the VAT you can claim back so it lands in your VAT report (Solo plan and up). See VAT and reports, or start on the free plan and compare plans on the pricing page.

Questions people ask