The employer interim reconciliation for the transaction period 1 March to 31 August 2014 is open between 1 September and 31 October 2014. During this period you should submit your interim reconciliation declaration to SARS.
In preparation for the reconciliation we would like to inform you of the changes you can expect. A number of changes are due to the introduction of the Employment Tax Incentive (ETI) which came into effect on 1 January 2014. Changes to the submission channels available to employers will also be introduced.
Changes to submission channels
Employers, who in the past prepared an off-line e@syFile™ Employer disk for submission at a SARS branch, need to note that this submission channel is no longer available.
We would like to encourage you to submit your declaration through one of the following online channels:
| eFiling – available to employers with less than 20 employees | |
| e@syFile™ Employer – available to employers with any number of employees. |
The only exception made for submission at branches will be for employers with a maximum of five IRP5/IT3(a) certificates.
As previously communicated, manually completed payroll tax forms dropped-off at a SARS branch or posted, will no longer be accepted from 30 August 2014.
Changes to the Employer Reconciliation Declaration (EMP501)
To facilitate the ETI changes, new fields on the Employer Reconciliation Declaration (EMP501) have been introduced.
The financial information on the EMP501 now makes provision for the following new fields:
| On the EMP501, you need to indicate if you want to claim for ETI. If you indicate that you want to claim, an additional section of the EMP501 will open and reflect ETI fields such as amount brought forward, calculated and utilised | |
| The EMP501 header field will be pre-populated to reflect the reference numbers of the relevant payroll taxes (PAYE, SDL, and UIF). |
Employee Tax Certificates [IRP5/IT3(a)]
You need to indicate if an employee benefited from the ETI. If you answer yes, a page with ETI information will appear as part of the certificate.
Please note: ETI details must not form part of the certificate that is issued to an employee.
New source codes
Due to legislative changes we have introduced New Bursary/Scholarship Source Codes which are valid from the 2014 year of assessment:
| Taxable Bursaries or scholarships – Further Education (PAYE) (NQF levels 5 to 10): Code 3820 (3870) | |
| Non-taxable Bursaries or scholarships – Further Education (Excl) (NQF levels 5 to 10) – section 10(1)q Exempt portion only: Code 3821 (3871)] | |
| Acquisition of an Asset – Immovable Property Source Code 3822 (3872) must be used for a Non-taxable Fringe Benefit – Acquisition of Immovable Property as contemplated in par 5(3A) of the Seventh Schedule from the 2015 year of assessment. |
Changes to the Monthly Employer Declaration (EMP201)
You are advised to make sure that you do not have any outstanding declarations and/or debt with SARS before you complete and submit your monthly EMP201. Employers who have outstanding debt or returns will not be allowed to complete the ETI fields and will therefore not be able to claim for ETI.
The financial fields on the EMP201 have been updated to reflect ETI Calculation details. The updated fields include open, pre-populated and auto-calculated fields. When completing your monthly EMP201 please note the following:
| The PAYE, SDL, UIF liabilities, ETI calculated and ETI utilised are open fields which you need to complete | |
| Penalties and interest is also an open field and should be completed. Outstanding amounts for penalties and interest can be found on your Statement of Account | |
| SDL payable and UIF payable are pre-populated fields completed by SARS based on the liability amounts completed | |
| Auto-calculated fields include Payroll liability, ETI carried forward, PAYE payable (PAYE liability less the ETI utilised) and total payable (the amount payable by you to SARS). You will not be able to change these amounts. |
Source: SARS