Pretoria, 28 March 2018 – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) is ready to implement the Sugary Beverages Levy (SBL) which comes into effect on 1 April 2018.

Manufacturers that produce sugary beverages with a total annual sugar content in excess of 500 kg per year need to be licensed with SARS and pay the levy to SARS. Those manufacturers that produce below the 500kg per year will not have to pay the levy, but they are required to register with SARS.

SARS has ensured the necessary systems are available to effectively and efficiently deal with the processing, licensing and registration of manufacturers of sugary beverages.

The levy will be charged at 2.1 cents per gram of the sugar content which exceeds 4 grams per 100ml. This means that the first 4 grams per 100ml are levy free. Sugary beverages manufactured before 1 April 2018 will not be subject to the levy.

In line with SARS’s approach to educate taxpayers and make it easy to comply with their tax obligations, SARS has engaged importers, manufacturers and other industry stakeholders through a series of roadshows held in five provinces earlier in March.