The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has published its domestic framework for implementing the Crypto Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), setting out how crypto-related transactions will be collected, reported and shared with tax authorities.
The framework, published yesterday, is part of a global push to strengthen transparency in the rapidly-growing digital asset sector.
The move follows a series of policy developments, including the classification of crypto assets as financial products and the rollout of the Financial Sector Conduct Authority’s crypto asset service provider licensing regime, which has created a more structured and supervised ecosystem.
CARF forms part of broader international efforts led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), working with G20 countries, to address tax compliance risks created by crypto-currencies and other electronic money products that can operate outside traditional financial intermediaries.
According to SARS, the rise of crypto assets has reduced the visibility tax authorities have over financial activity, making it more difficult to verify whether taxpayers are accurately declaring income and gains.
The new reporting framework is designed to counter that risk by enabling the automatic exchange of crypto-related tax information between jurisdictions on an annual basis.
The CARF framework consists of three main components: domestic rules requiring reporting by crypto-asset service providers, international agreements between tax authorities to exchange information, and a standardised electronic reporting format based on an OECD XML schema.
SARS says it has adopted the OECD schema for domestic use to ensure alignment with global reporting standards and minimise inconsistencies when exchanging information with other countries.
The reporting rules will apply to entities classified as reporting crypto asset service providers with a connection to South Africa, requiring them to collect information on users, transactions and relevant tax jurisdictions through defined due-diligence procedures.
South Africa is a signatory to CARF and has aligned with the OECD’s global implementation timeline. Local crypto service providers will be required to begin submitting reportable data to SARS from September 2026, while the first exchanges of information between participating tax authorities are scheduled to start in September 2027.
SARS points out the move will support global tax transparency and help protect revenue collection as crypto markets continue to expand, while also aligning the country with international standards similar to existing automatic exchange regimes for financial accounts.
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