South Africa Boardroom

South Africa · Governance

Where South Africa’s import VAT and customs duties were assessed

Machinery and electronics had the largest import VAT value on South African bills of entry in 2024/25. Vehicles, aircraft and vessels led customs duties. The official records show four years of assessments by goods category.

Sources checked

South Africa Boardroom Editorial Team

2024/25 processed bills of entryImport VAT and customs duties by goods category

Import VAT

Shared scale · 0 R million to 70,205 R million

  • Machinery and Electronics70,205 R million
  • Vehicles, Aircraft and Vessels28,057 R million
  • Chemical Products33,218 R million
  • Textiles and Clothing12,799 R million
  • Special provisions24,612 R million
  • Base Metals17,059 R million
  • Food, Beverages and Tobacco10,937 R million
  • 13,349 R million
  • Mineral Products11,859 R million
  • 4,208 R million

Switch between the two assessments. Both views use the same scale.

Source 1 Source 2

Machinery led import VAT and total import tax

Machinery and electronics had a customs value of R485.66 billion in 2024/25. The section recorded R70.21 billion in import VAT and R9.83 billion in customs duties. Its reported total import tax was R80.03 billion, the highest goods category in the table. Source 1

Vehicles and clothing had larger duty shares than their value shares

Vehicles, aircraft and vessels accounted for 25.6% of reported customs duties in 2024/25 and 9.3% of customs value. Textiles and clothing accounted for 16.6% of duties and 2.8% of customs value. Section totals reflect the mix of goods and the treatment of those goods under the customs system. Source 1

Minerals show why customs value alone is a poor tax guide

Mineral products recorded R423.71 billion in customs value, R11.86 billion in import VAT and only R38 million in customs duties in 2024/25. Precious stones and metals likewise accounted for 10.3% of customs value but about 0.3% of duties. Different goods categories can have similar customs values and very different assessed amounts. Source 1

Bills of entry and actual collections are distinct reporting bases

The source records R259.98 billion in import VAT and R79.62 billion in duties on processed bills of entry in 2024/25. The reported combined total is R339.60 billion. Rounding can make the displayed components differ slightly from a total. The figures summarize historical declarations and cannot determine the rate or amount payable on an individual shipment. Source 1 Source 2

Sources

Open the data and source notes