Who you are contracting with: the website https://vatrefundagency.co.za and any online platform or application provided by the VRA in connection with VAT Refunds (hereinafter collectively referred to as “the website”) is owned and operated by Herman Stols Rekenmeesters (Pty) Ltd, registration number: 2014/106460/07, in its capacity as duly appointed and authorised VAT Refund Administrator (hereinafter referred to as "the VRA").

Visitors to the website ("users", “he/she” or "you"), who access the website, and any of the services (“the services”) provided therefrom, are bound by these terms and conditions of use (“Terms”).

By continuing to access and make use of this website, the user accepts and confirms that:

1.         he/she has read these Terms;

2.         he/she understands the rights and obligations set out in these Terms;

3.         if he/she is accessing this website in a representative capacity, that he/she is duly authorised to act on behalf of the person (juristic / natural) that he/she represents;

4.         he/she, and where applicable the person that he/she represents, agrees to be contractually bound by the terms of use that appear in the latest version of these Terms, as published on the website at the time of each access by him/her; and

5.         he/she grants to the VRA the rights set out in these Terms.

Should the user not accept the Terms, his/her only right or remedy is to discontinue accessing the website and from making use of any of the services provided therefrom.

1.             USE AND COPYRIGHT

1.1.         The user may view, copy, download to a local drive, and print the content of the website, or any part thereof, provided that:

1.1.1.     such content is used for non-commercial purposes only;

1.1.2.     may not infringe on the VRA’s intellectual property rights or the intellectual property rights of third parties, or the rights of other users relating to the protection of their personal information and all copies must include the following copyright notice: © VRA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED and

1.1.3.   the use of the content is in accordance with these Terms.

1.2.         The user may not, directly or indirectly, do any of the following:

1.2.1.     perform any action that violates these Terms or any guidelines or policies posted by the VRA;

1.2.2.     use the website for hacking, spoofing, cracking, phishing or spamming or any other activity aimed at achieving similar purposes;

1.2.3.     perform any action which is illegal, fraudulent or violates or infringes any of the VRA’S rights or the rights of third parties, including intellectual property rights;

1.2.4.     copy, upload, download or share material unless he/she has the lawful right to do so;

1.2.5.     use any technology or other means to access, index, frame or link to the services (including the content) in a way that is not expressly authorized by the VRA

1.2.6.     impersonate or misrepresent his/her affiliation with any person (any reference to person herein shall include both natural and juristic or legal persons);

1.2.7.     send unsolicited communications, promotions, advertisements or spam;

1.2.8.     collect or process information in violation of the Privacy Notice set out herein; or

1.2.9.      interfere with any other person’s use and enjoyment of the services, the website, or the content.

1.3.         Any restrictions on the use of the website or the content shall also apply to any part of the website or the content which may be cached when using the website or the content.

2.            INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

2.1.         The content made available through the website is owned by, or licensed to the VRA, and as such, is protected from infringement by domestic and international law, including intellectual property law. Subject to the rights afforded to the user herein, all the VRA’S rights, including intellectual property rights, in content displayed on the website, are expressly reserved.

2.2.         The user must not use the website or the content in any way that constitutes a violation of any law (including intellectual property law), or an infringement of the VRA’s rights (including the intellectual property rights), the rights of its licensors, users or any third party.

2.3.         All intellectual property rights, including all rights, title and interest in and to the website and content, of whatsoever nature existing now and, in the future, remain the VRA’s absolute property and that of its licensors.

2.4.         The user will not, at any time, acquire any rights, title, ownership or interest, including any intellectual property rights, in or to the website or the content other than those rights expressly granted to the user in these Terms.

2.5.         Where any of the content has been licensed to the VRA or belongs to any third party, the user’s rights of use will also be subject to any terms and conditions which that licensor or third party imposes from time to time and the user hereby agrees to comply with such third party terms and conditions.

3.            DISCLAIMER

3.1          The information on this website is intended to provide general information on a particular subject or subjects and is not an exhaustive treatment of such subject(s).

3.2          It is the sole responsibility of the user to satisfy him/herself prior to accessing this website that the website will meet the user's individual requirements and be compatible with the user's hardware and/or software. Information, ideas and opinions expressed on this site should not be regarded as professional advice or the official opinion of the VRA or any legal entity in respect of which information, ideas and opinions are expressed on this website. Users are encouraged to obtain professional advice before taking any course of action related to information, ideas or opinions expressed on this site.

3.3          The VRA makes no representations or warranties, implied or otherwise, that, among others, the content and technology available from this site are accurate, complete, free from errors or omissions, that the service will be 100% uninterrupted and error-free or will meet any particular criteria of performance or quality. The VRA may make changes to the material on the website at any time without notice. The material on the website may be out of date, and in this regard, The VRA makes no commitment to update such material. This site is provided 'as is'. Accordingly, to the maximum extent permitted by law, the website is provided on the basis that The VRA expressly excludes all representations, warranties, conditions and other terms whatsoever, including (without limitation) any representations, warranties or conditions as to the operation, integrity, compatibility, accuracy, availability or functionality of the website or content.

3.4          The provisions of Part 2 of Chapter III of the Electronic Communications and Transactions, 2002 is hereby excluded from applying to any electronic communications and data messages that a user sends to The VRA via this website. Any communications or data message that a user sends to The VRA will be regarded as having been received by The VRA when receipt is acknowledged in writing. If the user does not receive a response within a reasonable period of time, the user should follow it up with the VRA. The VRA shall not be liable for any failure to respond.

4.            SECURITY

4.1          The VRA has in place reasonable commercial standards of technology and operational security to protect all information provided by users from loss, misuse, alteration or destruction. All reasonable steps will be taken to secure a user's information.

4.2          Authorised employees, who are responsible for the maintenance of any sensitive data submitted, are required to maintain the confidentiality of such data.

4.3          It is expressly prohibited for any person, business or entity to gain or attempt to gain unauthorised access to any page on this website, or to deliver or attempt to deliver any unauthorised, damaging or malicious code to this website. If a person delivers or attempts to deliver any unauthorised, damaging or malicious code to this website or attempts to gain unauthorised access to any page on this website, a criminal charge will be laid against that person, and, if The VRA should suffer any damage or loss, civil damages will be claimed.

4.4          The user remains responsible for ensuring that he/she maintains the confidentiality and/or protection from compromise (e.g. lost, stolen, used wrongfully, or used by any other person) of any personal identification number (PIN) and/or digital identity (e.g. digital certificate) that may be issued to him/her and used, amongst other things, to log on to or to identify him/her to the website and that he/she shall be fully responsible for all activities that occur when the PIN code or digital identity, as the case may be, is used, with or without his/her knowledge.

4.5          Under no circumstances may the user permit or otherwise allow any other person to use the user’s pin code and/or digital identity. Only the user is authorised to use the pin code and/or digital identity issued to him/her. The use of the user’s pin code and/or digital identity by any other person compromises the integrity thereof and requires such pin code and/or digital identity to be revoked. further use by the user of a compromised pin code and/or digital identity is not permitted, and the user is required to apply to be re-issued with a new PIN code and/or digital identity.

5.            ACCESS TO AND AVAILABILITY OF WEBSITE

5.1.         Whilst The VRA will endeavour to ensure that the website is normally available 24 hours a day, it shall not be liable if the website is unavailable for any reason.

5.2.         Access to the website may be suspended temporarily and without notice in the case of system failure, maintenance or repair or for reasons beyond the VRA’s control.

5.3.         The VRA will not be responsible for the user’s inability to access the website, services and content due to limitations specific to the user’s personal computers, mobile phones, and other similar devices (“Access Device”). To access the content, the user must have an Access Device, which is able to connect to the Internet and to receive content.

5.4.         The user, at his/her own cost, is responsible for obtaining and maintaining the Access Device, adequate and reliable internet access, and all information technology and telecommunication facilities, equipment, hardware, software, systems, and the like, needed to access the Internet or to use the service.

5.5.         The VRA is not responsible for any Internet access charges, service provider charges and data usage charges. These charges must be paid by the user or the owner of the Access Device.

6.            LINKS TO AND FROM THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES

6.1.         The website and content available on or through the website may contain links to other third-party websites, which are completely unrelated to The VRA or its website. The inclusion of any link does not imply the VRA’s endorsement of such sites. Should the user link to third-party websites, the user may be subject to those third-party websites’ terms and conditions and other policies. The VRA does not control, and is not responsible for, these websites or their content or availability. It therefore does not endorse nor make any representations about them, or any material found there, or any results that may be obtained from using them.

6.2.         Should the user decide to access any of the third-party websites linked to the website, the user does so entirely at his/her own risk.

6.3.         The VRA is not responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, in any way for the content, use, or inability to use or access any linked websites or any links contained in a linked website.

6.4.         Any third-party website may link to the website provided that such a link is directed at the home page of the website. It is expressly prohibited for any person, business, entity or website to link to any page other than the home page of the website, without the VRA’s prior written approval.

6.5.         It is expressly prohibited for any person, business, entity, or website to frame any page on the website, including the home page, in any way whatsoever, without the VRA’s prior written approval.

7.            DATA PROTECTION

7.1.         The VRA will collect personal information from the user and the user may submit personal information to the VRA, which will handle the collection, processing and storage of the user’s personal information in accordance with the Privacy Notice set out herein.

7.2.         By disclosing or submitting personal information to the VRA, the user consents to The VRA collecting, processing and storing such personal information for the purposes described in the Privacy Notice.

8.            LIABILITY

8.1.         Subject to the provisions of sections 43(5) and 43(6) of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, and to the extent allowed by law, The VRA shall not be liable for any damage, loss or liability of whatsoever nature arising from the use or inability to use the website or the services or content provided from and through the website.

8.2.         Neither the VRA nor any of its agents or representatives shall be liable for any damage, loss or liability of whatsoever nature arising from the purchase of any third-party products or services, or from the use of or inability to use any third-party products or services linked to from or advertised on the VRA’s website.

8.3.         The VRA shall not be held liable for any comments or postings made by the user on any of its social media platforms. The VRA does not editorially control such comments or posting and therefore cannot be held liable for illegal or unconstitutional content (including, but not limited to defamatory, threatening, obscene, indecent, seditious, offensive, pornographic, abusive, liable to incite racial hatred, discriminatory, menacing, scandalous, inflammatory, or blasphemous, comments or postings).

8.4.         The use of the content of this website is at the user’s own risk. The user assumes full responsibility and risk of loss resulting from the use of the content of this site. Subject to sections 43(5) and 43(6) of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002 (Act 25 of 2002), The VRA or any of the legal entities in respect of which information are contained on this site, or employees of the VRA or such entity, will not be liable for any special, indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages or any other damages whatsoever, whether in an action of contract, statute, tort (including, without limitation, negligence), or otherwise, relating to or arising from the use or inability to use this website or the services or content provided from and through this website.

8.5.         When using the services, the user is and shall at all times remain, solely responsible for:

8.5.1.     the user’s conduct;

8.5.2.     the content of the information and material provided by the user;

8.5.3.     maintaining and backing up of the user’s information and material;

8.5.4.     loss or corruption of the user’s information and material;

8.5.5.     the user’s electronic communications;

8.5.6.     what the user copies, shares, uploads, downloads or otherwise use or share with others;

and the user agrees to indemnify, defend and hold the VRA harmless against all legal costs, charges, loss or damage which the VRA may sustain as a result of any of the aforesaid for which the user is responsible whilst using the services.

9.             INDEMNITY

9.1.         As far as the law allows, the user hereby indemnifies the VRA and agrees to hold it, its affiliates and suppliers harmless against any loss, liability, costs, and damages which the VRA or its suppliers and/or affiliates may suffer, where the claim results from:

9.1.1.  the user’s use and access to the website, content and/or the services;

9.1.2.  the user infringing or misusing any rights of any persons, including intellectual property rights in relation to the website or content;

9.1.3.   the user’s violation of these Terms; or any comments or postings the user may make on any of the VRA’s social media platforms.

9.2.         In certain instances, the VRA or other persons or entities may have claims for damage caused by the user, for example, where the user infringes upon the intellectual property rights of others, makes defamatory, threatening, or discriminatory comments of social media, or violates any of these Terms. The user hereby agrees to take on responsibility and liability for such losses and damages that the VRA or other persons or entities may suffer. The user will not be able to take action against the VRA if he/she should suffer losses or damages in these circumstances.

10.          NO AGREEMENT

Nothing contained herein creates or is intended to create a service agreement between the VRA and any user visiting the website.

11.          SEVERABILITY

These terms and conditions of use constitute the entire professional or other relationship between he VRA and the user of this website. If any term or condition of the use of this website is not fully enforceable or valid for any reason, such term(s) or condition(s) shall be severable from the remaining terms and conditions. The remaining terms and conditions shall not be affected by such unenforceability or invalidity and shall remain enforceable and applicable.

12.          UPDATING THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The VRA reserves the right to change, modify, add to or remove from portions or the whole of these terms and conditions of use from time to time. Changes to these terms and conditions of use will take effect upon such changes being posted to this website. It is the user’s obligation to periodically check these terms and conditions of use at this website for changes or updates. The user’s continued use of this website following the posting of changes or updates will be considered notice of the user’s acceptance to abide by and be bound by these terms and conditions of use, including such changes or updates.

13.          ACCEPTANCE

13.1.      When using, accessing, browsing, referring to, viewing, and/or downloading content, the user agrees and accepts to be bound to these Terms and the Privacy Notice. The Privacy Notice is hereby incorporated into these Terms and forms part of these Terms.

13.2.      These Terms and the Privacy Notice apply to the entire contents of the website and to any correspondence between the VRA and the user. Using, accessing, browsing, referring to, viewing, uploading and/or downloading the content displayed on the website for any purpose indicates that the user has read, understood and accepted these Terms and the Privacy Notice and agree to be bound by same. Should the user not agree to these Terms and the Privacy Notice, the user shall immediately refrain from using, accessing, browsing, referring to, viewing, uploading and/or downloading the content displayed on the website.

14.          WAIVER

Any failure by The VRA to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall in no way constitute a waiver of such right or provision.

15.          APPLICABLE AND GOVERNING LAW

The website is hosted, controlled and operated from the Republic of South Africa, and thus South African Law governs the use of the website, as well as the provisions of these Terms.

Disclaimer

• Kindly note that though proof of payment for the supply of movable goods exceeding R10 000 is required, the VRA may request proof of payment to verify the refund of tax in respect of movable goods exported where the consideration is less than R10 000. Proof of payment must, where applicable, be in compliance with the SARB requirements.

• No claims for refunds will be considered where the qualifying purchaser exports the movable goods more than ninety (90) days from the date of the invoice.

• No claims for refunds will be considered where the refund is not requested and fully motivated within three (3) months from date of export.

• Claims can also not be processed unless all documentation, as set out in paragraph 3 of VAT Export regulation No. 316, Government Gazette No. 37580, has been provided to the VRA.

• Please be advised that the VRA will deduct a commission of 1.3% (one point three percent) for processed claims from the claim amount. Additionally, any incidental forex or transaction costs necessary for the payment of the refund will be deducted from the claim amount. Beyond these, any and all additional charges not directly related to the administration or verification of the claim will also be deducted. This may encompass charges that are not typical for claim verification, but are essential for the processing of the claim.

• In the event of submissions via postal claims, it shall remain the responsibility of the qualifying purchaser to ensure that a reliable courier or postal service is utilized, which allows for the tracking of parcels. You agree to hold us harmless in the event that your postal submission does not reach our offices for whatsoever reason.

• Following capturing of your information, an email will automatically be sent to the email address provided by you in which the information captured is set out. It remains your responsibility to ensure that 1) you have received such email; and 2) the information set out therein is complete, true and correct. Our offices will not be held responsible where the information has been captured incorrectly and you have failed to notify our offices thereof.

• Though we will endeavor to process your claim timeously, it may happen that the process takes longer than anticipated, as we need, amongst others, to obtain additional information or documentation from you which was not necessarily requested at commencement of the process. You agree to indemnify and hold our office harmless in the event that there is a delay in the claim process.

• It shall at all times remain the responsibility of the qualifying purchaser to ensure that all documentation and information provided to the VRA are complete, true and correct.

Client Consent in terms of the Protection of personal information

The Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) protects information personal to individuals and businesses. The owner of information is the data subject. All other relevant parties are deemed to be processors of personal information.

Purpose for processing your Personal Information

We collect, hold, use and may disclose your personal information mainly to provide you with access to the services that we provide. We will only process your information for a purpose you would reasonably expect, including:

1.To provide the services to you;

2.To send e-mail correspondence relating to the services and the progress of your claim;

3.To notify you of new developments that may be of interest to you;

4.To provide you with additional information and/or send marketing material relating to the services;

5.To confirm, verify and update your details; and

6.To comply with any legal and regulatory requirements.

Some of your information that we hold may include, your first and last name, email address, a home, postal or other physical address, other contact information, such as your email address, your title, birth date, gender, passport and travel information, your banking details. We will also conduct visual biometric data capturing by capturing your facial image in order to compare your captured facial image to that appearing on your passport for verification purposes.

Consent to Disclose and Share your information

We may need to share your information to provide advice, reports, analyses, or services that you have requested. Where we share your information, we will take all precautions to ensure that the third party will treat your information with the same level of protection as required by us. Your information may be hosted on servers managed by a third-party service provider, which may be located outside of South Africa.

We may need to transfer/share your personal information with the following third parties, in order to render the services, including but not limited to:

1.The South African Revenue Service;

2.If you are a resident of a foreign country, such foreign country’s Revenue Services (only if applicable and required by law);

3.Banks and Foreign Exchange Trading Companies;

4.Department of Home Affairs;

5.Department responsible for International Affairs; and

6.Third party service providers such as Amazon (for visual biometric data capturing and invoicing purposes) and ChatGPT (for invoicing purposes).