[hpsdr] A/J/O has arrived

[Deon Erwin ZS1ZL]

The sales tax system in South Africa has been around for a long time and
began as GST (General Sales Tax) and was later renamed to VAT (Value Added
Tax).

VAT is levied at 14% on goods and services, with some goods and very few
services being exempt from VAT and all fresh produce (read: unprocessed
food) is exempt from VAT.  VAT has been a political football over the years
with some politicians wanting relief on certain goods, while others are
saying that it is the only fair way to make everyone (rich and poor) pay
tax.

Our VAT system has its peculiarities, yet is applied surprisingly logically
in some areas.  For instance, I would pay VAT on the value of the HPSDR
boards, but not for the shipping service if I pay for that service in the
country of origin.

Our import duty also has a peculiarity.  Import duty is generally levied at
15% on radios and electronic goods, but no duty is levied on transmitters or
transceivers.  However, lately I have found that any parcel marked "Amateur
Radio Equipment" passes through customs without being levied the 15% import
duty, irrespective of its value.  Strange, but true.

Mrs ZS1ZL: "What are all these parcels marked 'Amateur Radio Equipment' that
you have been receiving?"
ZS1ZL: "Oh, they are gifts from my overseas ham friends."

Deon ZS1ZL

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tony Langdon" <vk3jed at gmail.com>
To: "Chris Smith" <chris at vspl.co.uk>; <hpsdr at hpsdr.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2007 9:35 PM
Subject: Re: [hpsdr] A/J/O has arrived


***** High Performance Software Defined Radio Discussion List *****

At 10:32 PM 6/14/2007, Chris Smith wrote:

>There appears to be no Import Duty, no Excise Duty - just VAT (value
>added tax). I can't understand what value has been added by the carriage
>of these items from outside the EU but then I have always thought that
>VAT was wrongly named in the first place. VAT replaced the more honestly
>name Purchase Tax. Ah! The spin of our unloved leaders.

I'd agree there.  At least our government had the sense to name the
tax appropriately.  It's called "Goods and Services Tax" (GST) over
here, which is exactly what it is - a tax added to any goods or
services supplied. :)

Interestingly, I didn't get charged GST on my package when it
arrived.  I just picked it up from the post office.  I would have
thought it would have been above the threshold (which I was led to
believe around $250 from a boss who used to bring a lot of stuff in
from overseas) where Customs would charge the GST.

73 de VK3JED
http://vkradio.com


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