58. Time when new or increased duties become payable

(1)     The Minister may table at any time in the National Assembly a taxation proposal imposing a new duty or increasing the rate of duty already payable upon any goods specified in the said proposal, and such new duty or increased rate of duty shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (2), from the time when the proposal was tabled be payable on all such goods as have not at the said time been entered for home consumption.

[Subsection (1) substituted by section 10 of Act 86 of 1982 and amended by section 21 of Act 84 of 1987, section 2 of Act 105 of 1992 and section 14 of Act 27 of 1997]

(2)     Whenever the Minister tables, under the provision of subsection (1), a taxation proposal relating to imported and excisable goods of the same class or kind, any such goods which the Minister may in the said proposal specify for the purposes of this subsection, shall, though entered for home consumption prior to the time of such proposal and notwithstanding that they have passed out of customs and excise control, become liable to the new duty or the difference between the rate of duty at the time of such proposal and the increased rate provided for in the said proposal, if they have at the time of such proposal not been delivered from the stocks of an importer, manufacturer or such class of dealer as the Minister may in the said proposal specify.

(3)     For the purposes of this section any goods which are specified by the Minister in any taxation proposal for the purposes of subsection (2) and which, at the time of the said proposal are in transit to an importer, manufacturer or a class of dealer so specified by the Minister, shall be deemed to form part of the stocks of such importer, manufacturer or dealer, as the case may be, notwithstanding any terms to the contrary of any contract relating to the sale or delivery of such goods.

(4)     Whenever the Minister has specified any goods in any taxation proposal for the purposes of subsection (2), every importer or manufacturer or dealer specified in the said proposal shall, in respect of any goods so specified –

(a)     forthwith take stock of all such goods which have not been delivered from his stocks at the time when the proposal was tabled, and make a clear and accurate record of such imported and excisable goods separately;

(b)     within seven days of the date on which the proposal was tabled, deliver to the Controller a sworn statement giving separately the description and quantities of the said imported and excisable goods, which were in his stocks at the said time, and any other information which the Commissioner may require of him; and

(c)     upon or before the last working day of the month following the month in which the proposal was tabled, pay to the Controller the amount of duty payable by him under subsection (2) in respect of the goods in question.

(5)     If the Minister specifies in any taxation proposal for the purposes of subsection (2) that any goods so specified shall be liable to the duties so specified if they have not been delivered from the stocks of a wholesale dealer at the time of the said proposal, the provisions of subsection (4) shall apply to the stocks of such wholesale dealer and of any retail dealer conducting his business on the same premises: Provided that the Commissioner may, upon production by such wholesale dealer of such evidence as he may require, exclude from the stocks or the liability for duty of that wholesale dealer for the purposes of subsection (2) –

(a)     stocks of a class or kind which are sold by such retail dealer only; and

(b)     such proportion of the total duty payable by such wholesale dealer as is represented by the proportion of retail sales to total sales of the goods concerned during the period of three months immediately preceding the date of such proposal, such proportion to be calculated on the basis of quantities of each commodity concerned.

(6)     For the purposes of this section –

(a)     “dealer” means any person who deals in goods to which this Act relates and includes a club, co-operative society of any nature or any statutory body;

(b)     “retail dealer” means, subject to the provisions of paragraph (c), any dealer who deals in or holds licence under any law to deal in retail quantities;

(c)     “wholesale dealer” means any dealer who deals in or holds a licence under any law to deal in wholesale quantities and the business and stocks of a wholesale dealer shall be deemed to include the business and stocks of any retail dealer who conducts business on the same premises on which the wholesale dealer conducts his business as such; and

(d)     “deliver” includes any form of delivery except traditio brevi manu and constitutum possessorium.

(7)     Whenever in any legal proceedings any question arises as to whether the Minister has in fact tabled a taxation proposal as described in this section, or as to the time when such proposal was tabled or the particulars contained in such proposal, a copy of such proposal, certified by the Secretary to Parliament to be a true copy, shall be accepted as sufficient evidence that such proposal was tabled and of the time when it was tabled and of the particulars contained therein.

[Subsection (7) amended by section 19 of Act 33 of 1974 and substituted by section 1 of Act 64 of 1974 and section 2 of Act 105 of 1992]