Gerhard Badenhorst
Gerhard Badenhorst is a Director in our Tax & Exchange Control practice. He is a chartered accountant and specialises in value-added tax (VAT) matters in various industries, including the financial services, mining and property industries. Gerhard acts for various private, public and multinational corporations and non-profit organisations. He is a guest lecturer on VAT at the University of Pretoria and the University of the Witwatersrand and serves as a member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants VAT sub-committee, and was an ad hoc member of the VAT sub-committee of the Davis Tax Committee.

About Gerhard
About Gerhard
After completing articles with audit firm BDO Spencer Stewart, Gerhard completed his National Service with the South African Revenue Service. He then joined the tax department of auditing firm Theron du Toit in April 1990 as a tax advisor, and began specialising in Value Added Tax (VAT) when the draft VAT legislation was first released in June 1990. Theron du Toit merged with auditing firm Coopers & Lybrand, where he was admitted as a tax partner responsible for the VAT service line in 1993. Coopers & Lybrand merged with Pricewaterhouse to form PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he headed up the national indirect tax practice (VAT & Customs) until December 2003. Gerhard joined the tax department of the law firm Sonnenberg Hoffman Galombik (SHG) in January 2004 as a tax executive specialising in VAT. SHG merged with Edward Nathan to form Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs, where he headed up the indirect tax team until April 2017. Gerhard joined Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr as a Director in May 2017.
Credentials
Credentials
Education
- BCom Accounting, Rand Afrikaans University
- BCom Hons Accounting, Rand Afrikaans University
- Diploma in Tax Law, Rand Afrikaans University
- Masters in Business Management, Rand Afrikaans University
- CA (SA), The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants
Memberships
- SAICA (The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants)
- SAIT (South African Institute of Tax Practitioners)
- Registered Tax Practitioner
About Gerhard
After completing articles with audit firm BDO Spencer Stewart, Gerhard completed his National Service with the South African Revenue Service. He then joined the tax department of auditing firm Theron du Toit in April 1990 as a tax advisor, and began specialising in Value Added Tax (VAT) when the draft VAT legislation was first released in June 1990. Theron du Toit merged with auditing firm Coopers & Lybrand, where he was admitted as a tax partner responsible for the VAT service line in 1993. Coopers & Lybrand merged with Pricewaterhouse to form PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he headed up the national indirect tax practice (VAT & Customs) until December 2003. Gerhard joined the tax department of the law firm Sonnenberg Hoffman Galombik (SHG) in January 2004 as a tax executive specialising in VAT. SHG merged with Edward Nathan to form Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs, where he headed up the indirect tax team until April 2017. Gerhard joined Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr as a Director in May 2017.
Credentials
Education
- BCom Accounting, Rand Afrikaans University
- BCom Hons Accounting, Rand Afrikaans University
- Diploma in Tax Law, Rand Afrikaans University
- Masters in Business Management, Rand Afrikaans University
- CA (SA), The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants
Memberships
- SAICA (The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants)
- SAIT (South African Institute of Tax Practitioners)
- Registered Tax Practitioner
Experience
VAT matters
Gerhard has been advising on VAT matters since the implementation of VAT in South Africa. He advises various national and multinational companies, non-government and non-profit organisations, partnerships, joint ventures and various industries, most notably mining companies, construction companies and financial service organisations (banks, short-term and long term insurers) on a wide range of VAT matters. He also advised various industries and companies on the implementation of VAT in Namibia and Botswana, and assisted companies with VAT disputes in Lesotho.
VAT litigation
Gerhard advised and assisted Counsel with the VAT litigation of clients in the Tax Court, the High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal.
VAT training workshops for client
Gerhard designed and presented numerous VAT training workshops for clients, presented various VAT seminars, and is a guest lecturer on VAT at the University of Pretoria and the University of the Witwatersrand for their Honours and Masters tax courses.
News

Securities lending arrangements: The VAT implications
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) published Binding General Ruling 62 (BGR 62) on 12 December 2022, in which it sets out its interpretation and application of the Value-Added...

2023 Budget summary: VAT
Specific supplies in the short-term insurance industry.

Webinar Recording | 2023 Special Edition Budget Speech Alert
Watch as our experts' give their views on 2023 Budget Speech.

VAT on imported services: A potential compliance risk
Value-added tax (VAT) is levied on the supply of goods or services by registered vendors, on the importation of goods and on the importation of services into South Africa.

The deductibility of VAT on payments made under loan cover: SCA judgment in CSARS v Capitec
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) handed down judgment on 21 June 2022 in the case of Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service v Capitec Bank Ltd (94/2021) ZASCA 97. The...
Recognition
2009-2023
- Chambers Global 2022-2023 Gerhard received an "Individual Spotlight Ranking" for Tax: Indirect tax. Chambers Global ranked Gerhard in Band 1 in Indirect Tax from 2009-2021.
2014-2023
Legal 500 EMEA
- The Legal 500 EMEA 2023 listed Gerhard as a leading indivisual in Tax. He was from 2018-2022 in tax. The Legal 500 Guide to Outstanding Lawyers listed Gerhard in Tax from 2014-2016.

- Chambers Global 2022-2023 Gerhard received an "Individual Spotlight Ranking" for Tax: Indirect tax. Chambers Global ranked Gerhard in Band 1 in Indirect Tax from 2009-2021.
Legal 500 EMEA
- The Legal 500 EMEA 2023 listed Gerhard as a leading indivisual in Tax. He was from 2018-2022 in tax. The Legal 500 Guide to Outstanding Lawyers listed Gerhard in Tax from 2014-2016.