FROM June, SARS will
withdraw its ruling that
grants airlines permission
to round-off to the nearest
rand, the VAT on domestic
air tickets.
All GDSs have indicated
that their systems will
be updated and ready to
support the two decimal
requirements come June
3, with some already
prepared.
Manual adjustments on
the part of the travel agent
should be minimal, says
Asata’s industry affairs
specialist, Karen Strydom.
She says feedback from
its members regarding
the pending change has
been positive with travel
agencies saying their back
ofce accounting systems
are ready to accommodate
the new ruling.
Amadeus, too, has
welcomed the new ruling,
saying over the years
several agents have
raised concerns about the
rounding off of VAT on air
tickets and asked how they
should respond to clients
who need to be SARS
compliant. Sabre, however,
feels that the legislation
implies that government
views travellers as being
overcharged by the industry
– albeit by suppliers and
not necessarily travel
agents. “This is certainly
not a negative development
but it will keep the industry
on its toes,” says Sabre’s
manager of external
communications France
and Benelux, Raphaelle
Boissicat.
Amadeus adds that some
agents have questioned
how the reissuance of
tickets will be affected.
“While we cannot comment
with certainty at this
time, I can say that, as
the rounding of amounts
was always up, it should
not create any issues
as there won’t be any
decimal amounts that will
need to be collected. In
fact, reissues will allow
for small amounts to
be refunded back to the
passenger – residual value
that the agent can choose
to process as a refund or
not,” says general manager
of Amadeus Southern
Africa, Peter Long
