SARS has published draft rules for comment relating to advance rulings. Importers often face uncertainty when determining how SARS will classify goods, determine their customs value, or assess their country of origin. To provide greater certainty, Chapter IXA of the Customs and Excise Act 91 of 1964 allows businesses to apply for an advance ruling before goods are imported.

An advance ruling is a formal decision by SARS issued prior to clearance and which can cover tariff, valuation, or origin. Applications for advance rulings must be submitted electronically through eFiling or at a SARS office, meaning that applications will no longer be accepted via email. Applicants are required to provide detailed information about themselves, the goods concerned, and the nature of the ruling sought. SARS may request additional information, which must generally be supplied within 21 working days, although an extension may be granted. Failure to provide the requested information may result in the application being rejected.

There is, however, a cost involved with applicants being expected to pay a R2 500 application fee, together with a cost-recovery fee of R650 per hour for ordinary applications or R1 000 per hour for urgent applications. There is no indication of how long it will take SARS to consider an application or of how these cost recovery and application fees will be utilised. In addition, applicants will be liable for costs incurred by SARS, such as laboratory testing, technical analysis, external expert fees, etc. Importantly, SARS must provide estimates of anticipated costs and obtain approval before incurring significant additional expenses.

Additional information is required depending on the type of ruling requested, and applicants may also be required to submit supporting documents such as technical specifications, catalogues, photographs, manuals, supplier declarations, manufacturing records, laboratory reports, and product samples.

Recipients of advance rulings must retain all related records, including the application, supporting documents, correspondence, and ruling itself, for five years. SARS may publish tariff and origin rulings to assist other importers, provided that confidential information is not disclosed. This raises concerns since one importer is forced to pay SARS for the advance ruling, while others freely benefit from the rulings if published.

If circumstances change after a ruling has been issued, the recipient must notify SARS within 10 working days and may apply for the ruling to be amended. SARS may also withdraw a ruling if it was obtained through fraud, misrepresentation, incomplete information, or if it conflicts with an applicable international trade agreement.

Advance rulings are an important risk-management tool, providing importers with certainty and predictability. It is, however, questionable how many importers will opt to make use of this service, historically provided free of charge by SARS, given the cost and level of information SARS seemingly requires to make such a ruling. The due date for comments on the draft rules is 4 November 2026.