What to buy in Johannesburg

VAT is charged at 15% and a qualifying purchaser, which includes a tourist and a non-resident, can reclaim it on goods, not services. The VAT-inclusive total of all movable goods bought during the visit and exported at the end of it has to exceed R250 per qualifying purchaser.

The goods must be exported within 90 days of the date of the tax invoice, through one of the 43 designated commercial ports, and the claim with its documents has to reach the VAT Refund Administrator within 90 days of export.

You have to present yourself, together with the goods, to a Customs and Excise official at the designated port you are leaving from. For goods that are not kept as hand luggage, the tax invoice must be endorsed by the Customs and Excise official and a VRA official, so anything going into the hold has to be dealt with before you check it in.

The claim runs on original documentary proof of export, so keep every tax invoice rather than assuming a card statement will do.

The VAT Refund Administrator keeps a physical presence at only three international airports, OR Tambo, Cape Town and King Shaka.

The online traveller declaration covers goods as well as currency, and is submitted before you travel in both directions.