Gerhard Badenhorst
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 specialising in VAT in May 2017.
Areas of expertise
Experience
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 companies in various industries, most notably mining companies, construction companies, financial service organisations (banks, non-life and life insurers) real estate, and manufacturing concerns on a wide range of VAT matters. He also advised various industries and companies on the implementation of VAT in Namibia and Botswana.
Gerhard advises clients and assists Counsel with the VAT litigation of clients in the Tax Court, the High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal and has also assisted Counsel with a VAT litigation matter in the Constitutional Court.
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.
Recognition
- Gerhard was awarded an individual Spotlight Table ranking in Chambers Global 2022 – 2026 for tax: indirect tax.
- Chambers Global 2009–2021 ranked him in Band 1 for tax: indirect tax.
- The Legal 500 EMEA 2025 recommended Gerhard as a leading partner for tax.
- The Legal 500 EMEA 2023-2025 recommended him as a leading individual for tax.
- The Legal 500 EMEA 2012–2022 recommended Gerhard for tax.
- 2025 - 2026 ITR World Tax Rankings ranked Gerhard as 'Highly Regarded' in indirect tax in South Africa.
Credentials
Education
- BCom Accounting, Rand Afrikaans University
- BCom Hons Accounting, Rand Afrikaans University
- Higher Diploma in Tax Law, Rand Afrikaans University
- M Com Enterprise Management, Rand Afrikaans University
- Chartered Accountant (SA)
- Qualified as a Chartered Accountant in May 1988.
Memberships
- SAICA (The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants)
- SAIT (South African Institute of Tax Practitioners)
- Registered Tax Practitioner
LANGUAGES
- English
