Microsoft Store tax profile only offers VAT number for South African individual developer

Do not enter the SARS income-tax number as a VAT number; create a fresh Microsoft Store (Sell) tax profile for the correct seller assignment, and if it still exposes only VAT/ABN/ARN fields, submit a Partner Center support request because Microsoft does not document a self-service field override.

Recreate the profile under the correct assignment

Partner Center separates profiles by program and Seller ID, and an Incentives profile cannot be reused for a Seller account. Each Seller ID can have only one tax-profile mapping at a time.^1^

1. Sign in to Partner Center.
2. Go to Settings (gear) → Account settings → Payout and tax profile assignment.
3. Locate the row whose program is Microsoft Store (Sell) and verify that it is the intended Seller ID.
4. Select Edit → Create a new tax profile rather than selecting an existing profile.
5. Select:
   • Permanent residence: South Africa
   • Account type: Individual
6. Continue to Tax Residence Country/Region.

The fields should be generated from those selections. Partner Center’s documented process says country-specific information is requested after permanent residence and account type are selected.^1^

If the new profile again requires VAT number and provides no applicable non-VAT option, stop there. Do not submit a fabricated number or relabel your SARS number.

What the published requirements establish

• Microsoft’s South Africa VAT guidance says Microsoft applies standard VAT to digital content and services purchased by partners in South Africa. It does not state that every South African individual publisher must possess or provide a VAT registration number.^2^
• A separate Partner Center registration-ID document lists TIN for South Africa.^3^ However, that page applies to indirect providers, direct-bill partners, and indirect resellers. It does not establish that the Microsoft Store tax-profile field accepts a SARS personal income-tax number.
• Non-US publishers must also complete the applicable US W-8 form, but a US ITIN is not required to receive payment or claim treaty benefits.^1^

Consequently, the available documentation does not support entering your SARS number into a field explicitly labelled VAT number, nor does it explain why VAT is the only choice in this specific South African individual workflow.

Australian ABN/ARN fields

ABN and ARN are Australian fields and do not correspond to a South African VAT or personal income-tax number. Microsoft’s public Store tax-profile instructions do not specify their field-level optionality on this screen.

Leave them blank if the form permits it. If either is mandatory despite the profile showing South Africa / Individual, include that fact in the support request as evidence that the generated form does not match the selected residence. Do not enter placeholder values.

Escalate without using Engage Center

Use Partner Center’s own support entry point rather than the Engage Center page that remains stuck loading:

1. In Partner Center, select the AI assistant icon in the upper-right.
2. Describe the issue, then select Contact Support.
3. Choose the relevant payout/tax or account-settings problem type.
4. Select Review solutions → Create support request.

If AI assistant is unavailable, select Help (?) → Contact Support → Review solutions → Create support request.^4^

Attach screenshots showing:

• Core Details: South Africa and Individual.
• Payout and tax profile assignment: Microsoft Store (Sell) and Seller ID.
• The mandatory Tax ID type dropdown containing only VAT.
• The ABN/ARN fields.
• Any validation message, correlation/request ID, and timestamp.
• The Engage Center loading failure.

Suggested summary:

Microsoft Store (Sell) tax profile for a South African Individual incorrectly offers only “VAT number” as the mandatory Tax ID type. The publisher is not VAT-registered and cannot truthfully provide a VAT number. The page also displays Australian ABN/ARN fields. Please verify the Seller ID’s country/program provisioning and correct or reset the tax-profile field configuration so the applicable South African individual flow can be completed.

An Owner or Financial Contributor role is required to manage Marketplace tax profiles.^1^ If the support controls or payout-and-tax workspace are missing, check Settings → Account settings → Overview → View permissions.^5^

There is no documented alternate offline submission method or supported bypass for an unavailable Tax ID type. Once the corrected profile can be submitted, validation can take up to 48 hours.^1^

References

1. Set up Microsoft Marketplace payout and tax profiles
2. Value added tax (VAT) information
3. Registration ID number information
4. Get help and contact support in Partner Center - Partner Center
5. Partner Center account settings