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zaref / docs / vat-api

South Africa VAT API and free calculator

The standard South African VAT rate as clean JSON, cited to SARS with its effective date, plus a calculator that adds or strips VAT from any amount. The calculator is free: no payment, no key, no account.

Series

GET /v1/vat

VAT rate currently in force in South Africa.

$0.005 per call · updates: rare (Budget announcements) · effective 2018-04-01 · history at /v1/vat/history ($0.01)

Calculators

GET /calc/vat FREE

Add or strip VAT at the current SA rate (direction=add | remove | strip; unrecognised values are rejected). Free.

Parameters: amount, direction

free · example: /calc/vat?amount=1000&direction=add

Live response (free, right now)

$ curl "https://zaref.dev/calc/vat?amount=1150&direction=remove"
{
  "calculator": "vat",
  "input": {
    "amount": 1150,
    "direction": "remove"
  },
  "vat_rate_percent": 15,
  "amount_incl_vat_zar": 1150,
  "amount_excl_vat_zar": 1000,
  "vat_portion_zar": 150,
  "source_url": "https://www.sars.gov.za/types-of-tax/value-added-tax/"
}

How agents pay

No account, no API key. Paid endpoints reply HTTP 402 with exact payment requirements; an x402 client pays USDC on Base (about two seconds to settle) and retries automatically. Invalid input is rejected free with a 400 before any payment is challenged. See the x402 quickstart.

Questions

What is the VAT rate in South Africa?
The standard rate is 15 percent, in force since 1 April 2018. The endpoint returns it with the SARS citation, and will reflect any Budget change with a new effective date.
Is the VAT calculator really free?
Yes. GET /calc/vat answers without a payment challenge, as does the catalog and the public-holidays series. Everything else is paid per call via x402.
How do I strip VAT from an inclusive amount?
GET /calc/vat?amount=1150&direction=remove (or direction=strip) returns the exclusive amount and the VAT portion. Unrecognised direction values return an explicit error.

Related

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