South African farmers claiming diesel refunds must register afresh on a new digital system, even if they have claimed successfully for years under the existing VAT-linked scheme. The South African Revenue Service (SARS) opened its Diesel Refund Registration System to users and sellers on eFiling on 21 September 2026, and officials confirmed during the Diesel Refund Modernisation webinar on 18 September that no existing registration will migrate automatically. Until a farmer completes the new application, that business is effectively unregistered for the future claims system.

SARS is separating diesel refunds from VAT and building a digital chain linking the seller, buyer, production site, equipment and qualifying activity. Registration and supplier-relationship management are available first; user profiles and the claims function will follow.

Current VAT claims continue

The September launch covers registration only. Farmers must keep submitting diesel refund claims through their VAT201 returns until SARS announces the implementation date of the standalone claims platform. Registering on the new system does not stop or replace current VAT-linked claims.

The old and new arrangements will run in parallel. Diesel used before the eventual implementation date stays under the VAT-linked process, while diesel used from the announced cut-off date will be claimed on the new platform. SARS has not yet named that date.

Claims carry a two-year prescription period, so records must be divided accurately at the cut-off. Mixing transactions from the two regimes could produce duplicate, omitted or incorrectly submitted litres.

Suppliers must register too

The biggest operational risk is that a farmer's ability to claim will depend partly on supplier compliance. Every diesel seller serving refund users must register and receive a diesel tax reference number. The farmer uses that number to request an electronic relationship on eFiling, which the supplier must confirm.

When the claims function opens, farmers will select the seller connected to each purchase. An unregistered supplier will not appear on the system, and the farmer may be unable to include those litres in a claim — regardless of invoice quality or fuel-use records.

SARS will publish no list of registered sellers. Farmers must approach every wholesaler, co-operative, distributor, depot or filling station they use, confirm registration and obtain the diesel tax reference number. A filling station needs to register only if it supplies diesel to refund-scheme participants.

Who qualifies

Qualifying activities fall into eight categories: agriculture, fishing, mining on land, offshore mining, offshore shipping, harbour shipping, rail freight transport and electricity generation. Farming and forestry are combined under agriculture, and applicants may select more than one category.

The concession remains restricted to prescribed primary-production activities. Secondary operations such as fruit packing and fruit-juice manufacturing do not qualify merely because they sit on a farm. Mixed businesses must separate diesel used in primary production from processing, packing, private use and other excluded activities.

Contractors who buy diesel to perform qualifying work for someone else can register under the revised framework, but cannot claim until the claims system and related legislation take effect. The change creates a double-claim risk: agreements should specify who buys the fuel, keeps the records and submits the claim.

How to register

Applications go through eFiling or with help at a SARS branch. SARS recommends eFiling because it is faster and because the supplier-relationship function exists only online. Before applying, taxpayers should ensure their SARS profiles are matched, validated and current — an unvalidated profile may block access to diesel functionality.

The applicant uses the RAV01 form to add diesel refunds as a tax product and selects either diesel refund user or diesel refund seller. One application cannot cover both roles. After submission, SARS issues a case number, acknowledgement and a formal request listing the supporting documents required for the relevant category.

Once approved, the applicant receives a diesel tax reference number and must activate the diesel refund tax type on eFiling before the dashboard and relationship tools become visible. SARS proposes a turnaround of up to 21 business days for complete applications, though high initial volumes could cause delays.

Common problems include unmatched eFiling profiles, outdated addresses, unregistered bank details, wrong applicant type, omitted categories, missing documents, registering the wrong legal entity and failing to activate the tax type after approval. Farmers should retain the case number and monitor SARS correspondence.

One entity, several farms

A single legal entity operating several farms needs one user registration, but every location with qualifying activity will eventually have to be disclosed in the user profile. Adjacent properties may share one site plan; separate farms may need individual plans.

Where an operation is divided among companies, trusts, partnerships or individuals, each entity purchasing and using qualifying diesel may need its own registration. Operating under one farm name does not automatically merge separate entities into one refund user. The entity named on the invoice should be the entity paying for the diesel, conducting the qualifying activity and submitting the claim.

Records remain the foundation

Registration does not guarantee a refund. SARS may still examine whether the diesel was bought and used for a prescribed activity. Invoices, proof of payment, delivery notes, logbooks, storage records, equipment details and the link between fuel and farming task all remain essential.

Bulk tanks and mobile bowsers need tight control. Farmers should reconcile opening stock plus purchases, less closing stock, with fuel issued to qualifying activities, non-qualifying activities and recorded losses. Where several farms or entities share a tank, each issue should be allocated to the correct claimant.

Fuel moved from a main tank into a bowser has not yet been proved a qualifying use. Records should follow the litres from supplier delivery to main tank, bowser, machine and specific activity. Fuel cards, electronic pumps, operator PINs and equipment-level records strengthen this trail.

An equipment register should identify each tractor, harvester, pump, truck or generator — serial, fleet or registration number, ownership or lease status, location, main activity and logbook or telematics reference — and be updated when machinery is acquired, transferred, hired or sold. Staff need training too: entries such as 'tractor' or 'general farm work' may not establish eligibility. Records should capture date, litres, machine, operator, farm or field, task and, where practical, odometer or hour-meter readings.

Grey areas

SARS did not settle whether GPS and telematics data will replace manual logbooks. Farmers should retain digital records but not assume they remove the need for other evidence. Generator diesel does not qualify merely because the unit sits on a farm; a generator serving both production infrastructure and non-qualifying loads will need a reasonable allocation method. SARS gave no final guidance on generators or forklifts.

Evaporation, spills, meter tolerances, leaks and theft can explain gaps between fuel bought and fuel recorded as used, but losses should be documented when they occur — theft supported by an incident report and, where relevant, a police case number.

Cash flow at stake

Diesel refunds represent meaningful working capital for mechanised operations during planting, spraying, irrigation and harvesting. An incomplete application, unregistered supplier or unconfirmed relationship could delay a claim even when the diesel itself was used correctly.

Farmers should also distinguish between 100% eligible use and a refund of 100% of the diesel price. From 1 April 2026, qualifying on-land primary producers may calculate the applicable refund on 100% of eligible diesel use rather than the previous 80% — but the concession still refunds specified levy components, not the full fuel price.

SARS still needs to clarify the exact evidence required for qualifying use; whether telematics may replace or supplement logbooks; treatment of shared tanks, rented machinery and transfers between related entities; how mixed machine use must be allocated; and what happens when a seller's registration is suspended after a sale, or a claim fails on mismatched supplier data.

The immediate priorities are clear: register the correct legal entity, ensure every supplier is registered and linked, and make certain every qualifying litre can be traced from invoice to storage, machine and farming activity. Farmers should watch for SARS to announce the claims-platform implementation date and cut-off for VAT-linked claims — and treat this window as a farm-management and cash-flow project, not an accounting afterthought.