How to Register for VAT on SARS eFiling: Step-by-Step Guide and Documents Checklist

Before you log in: are you actually eligible?

Registration is compulsory once your taxable supplies pass R2.3 million in any 12-month period, and open to anyone voluntarily past R120,000. If you're not sure which one applies to you, or you want the full breakdown of thresholds and filing categories, read our VAT registration guide first. This post picks up from there and covers the part that guide only skims: what actually happens when you sit down at eFiling and click through the form.

What to have ready before you start

Half the delay in VAT registration comes from applicants realising, halfway through the form, that they're missing something. Gather these first:

Your income tax number. If you're a company, your public officer needs to be tax compliant, since SARS rejects applications where they aren't.
An eFiling profile. For a company, that means an Organisation profile with you set up and activated as the Registered Representative, usually the public officer. A company can only have one Registered Representative, and that person has to be sorted out before you can touch the VAT form.
A device with a working camera. You'll need it for a facial scan near the end of the process.
Your business activity code, from the SARS VAT 403 trade classification guide.
Your liability date and your actual or expected turnover figures for the 12-month period.
The supporting documents, gathered by entity type (see the checklist below). None of them need to be certified copies, despite what a lot of other guides say, but they do need to be recent: no more than 3 months old at the date you apply.

The documents SARS will ask for

Every application needs proof of banking, proof of address, and proof that you're actually trading. Get these wrong and you'll be back at your desk hunting for a different document while your application sits in limbo.

Banking

A stamped letter from your bank (an e-stamped one is fine) or a bank statement, no more than 3 months old, showing the account holder's legal name, account number, account type and branch code. Using a third party's account is only allowed for group or foreign companies, and needs a VAT119i indemnity form on top.

Proof of address

Something recent showing your name and the physical business address. SARS accepts a utility account or medical aid statement under 3 months old, a mortgage statement under 6 months, a vehicle licence under a year, or a current lease. If the premises belong to someone else, that person signs a CRA01 form to confirm it.

Proof you're actually trading

This is the one people get wrong most often. SARS wants evidence you've made or will make taxable supplies: invoices you've issued, signed financial statements, signed contracts, written confirmation that you won a tender, sale agreements, or a signed lease (where you and the other party aren't the same person). A business plan, a cash-flow projection, or an order placed without proof it was actually delivered on won't count. Neither will a tender you've merely submitted, only one you've won.

By entity type

Sole proprietor: your ID, driving licence, or passport.
Company or CC: your CIPC registration documents, ID for the directors or members, the public officer's ID, and a letter or resolution appointing them.
Partnership: ID for each partner, plus a VAT128 confirmation of partnership or the partnership agreement itself.
Trust: the Master's certificate or the registered trust deed, plus ID for the trustees.

Registering on eFiling, step by step

Log in. If you're registering a company, go to the Organisations tab, not Home. That's where the SARS Registered Details menu lives on a Tax Practitioner or Organisation eFiling profile.
Open SARS Registered Details, then Maintain SARS Registered Details. Confirm the authorisation prompt.
Click Add new product registration and select VAT. This opens the RAV01 form, which is what most people mean when they talk about "applying for VAT online." The paper VAT101 form only comes into play if SARS asks you in for an interview.
Fill in the VAT container. You'll need your registered particulars and trading name, your liability date (it can't be more than 3 months in the future), your business activity code, whether you're registering compulsorily or voluntarily, your taxable supplies figure, your accounting basis, your preferred tax period, and your contact, physical and postal addresses.
Submit, then complete the facial scan. More on that below.

Backdating a registration: a compulsory registration can be backdated up to 6 months on eFiling itself. Further back than that needs a branch appointment, and proof, such as financial statements, contracts or invoices, of when you actually became liable. A voluntary registration generally can't be backdated at all unless you can justify it with documents.

The facial scan

VAT and payroll tax registrations both require facial biometric authentication. Whoever's registering, the individual applicant or the company's Registered Representative, needs a device with a camera and gets up to 3 attempts. If it fails on all 3, SARS opens a verification case instead of rejecting you outright, so this isn't usually a dead end, just a slower path.

What happens after you submit

SARS says that where no risk is identified, it issues the VAT number immediately. In practice, most applications go through a validation step first, which SARS attributes to the rise in fraudulent registration attempts.

If your application needs a closer look, SARS sends a Registration Application Review Notice listing what it wants, and you have 21 business days to respond before it's rejected. Since December 2025, there's also a faster track underneath that: a SARS consultant may phone you directly, or send a specific letter naming exactly what's missing or outdated, and you then have only 5 business days from that letter to upload it. Miss that window and the system rejects the application automatically. Most guides to this process haven't caught up with that change yet, so it's worth knowing about if your application stalls.

SARS may also inspect your business premises, in person or virtually, to confirm you're actually trading from where you say you are.

Once you're approved, you'll get a Notice of Registration on eFiling. People still call this a VAT103, which was the old form name. SARS staff can't confirm a VAT number over the phone, so if you need proof, request the Notice of Registration itself. Your VAT number will be 10 digits starting with 4, and you can check any VAT number against the exact registered trading name using the SARS VAT Vendor Search.

Why applications get rejected

A few patterns come up often enough to be worth avoiding on purpose:

The entity or its public officer isn't tax compliant.
The business activity description is too vague. "Consulting" or "business services" on its own tends to get flagged; describe what you actually do.
The address on your proof of address doesn't match the address on the invoices you're using as proof of taxable supplies.
Related companies invoicing each other, with shared directors and no letter explaining why. If this applies to you, attach that explanation upfront rather than waiting to be asked.
Missing a call from SARS, or missing the 5 or 21 business day document windows.
Never completing the facial scan.

If you should already be registered and aren't

SARS can register you retroactively from the date you crossed the threshold, whether or not you've applied. Once that happens, the prices you already charged are treated as if VAT was included in them all along, so you owe SARS 15/115 of everything you received since your liability date, out of your own pocket. On R500,000 of sales, that's R65,217 you now have to find, on top of a 10% late payment penalty and interest, and possibly an understatement penalty too. A voluntary disclosure made before SARS opens an audit can reduce that understatement penalty, sometimes to nothing. Applying within your 21 business days is a lot cheaper than waiting to be found.

One thing that does work in your favour: if your registration ends up backdated, invoices you received from suppliers before your registration date still count for claiming input tax, even though they won't show your VAT number.

Once your VAT number arrives

You can't charge VAT or issue a tax invoice until SARS has actually issued the number, so don't add VAT to anything before then. Once it's confirmed, link the VAT tax type to your eFiling profile so you can file your first VAT201 return (see our guide to that), and update how you invoice: see our tax invoice checklist for what a compliant invoice needs. From here on, notify SARS of any change to your address, bank account or representative within 21 business days, and keep your records for 5 years.

Invo tip: once your VAT number arrives, turn on VAT registration under Settings → Address & registration and add the number. Every invoice you send from that point labels itself "TAX INVOICE," calculates VAT per line automatically, and feeds straight into the VAT report you'll use to fill in your VAT201. See the features page for the full rundown.

Frequently asked questions

Can I register for VAT online? Yes, through eFiling. It's the fastest of the three channels SARS offers; the other two are a virtual eBooking appointment or an in-person branch visit.

What documents do I need for VAT registration? Proof of banking, proof of address, and proof of taxable supplies, plus entity-specific documents like a CIPC certificate for a company or a trust deed for a trust. See the checklist above.

Do I still need to fill in a VAT101 form? Only if SARS asks you in for an interview. Applying through eFiling means filling in the RAV01 form instead, which covers the same ground.

How long does VAT registration take? SARS says to allow at least 21 business days if your application needs validation. Some applications are approved immediately if no risk is flagged.

How do I get a VAT number, and how do I check one? You get it through the eFiling process above. To check whether a number is genuine, use the SARS VAT Vendor Search with the exact registered trading name.

Can I charge VAT while my application is still pending? No. You can only charge VAT and issue tax invoices once SARS has actually issued your number.

Can my accountant register on my behalf? A registered tax practitioner can submit the application with a power of attorney, but the declaration still has to be signed by you or your representative, not the practitioner.

Do I need a registered company before I can register for VAT? No, a sole proprietor can register directly. If you're weighing up whether to register a company at all, see our CIPC registration guide.