From 1 April to 31 May 2024, the filing season is open for Employer Annual Reconciliations, or Declarations. Due to unexpected delays in the confirmation of the filing dates, the website of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) was officially updated only on 4 April. The notice can be viewed here.

What is the Employer Annual Reconciliation?

During the Employer Annual Reconciliation, an employer must submit their employees’ tax certificates to SARS. These certificates must then be reconciled with the employer’s EMP201s and EMP501, as well as the actual payments made to SARS. This information is pivotal for calculating the employer’s liabilities for PAYE, SDL, and UIF for the tax year ending in February.

Employers must reconcile and submit all employees’ tax certificates, irrespective of their income for the tax year. Employees’ tax certificates must also reflect accurate information, including personal details, income, tax deductions, and benefits.

How to Submit?

Submissions can be facilitated through eFiling for employers with fewer than 50 employees, or via the e@syFile application, which is mandatory for employers with 50 or more employees. It’s essential to utilise the latest version of e@syFile that is available for download. Before installing a new version of the app, it is advisable to back up existing information.

Documentation required for submissions can be conveniently generated by SimplePay, based on your finalised payroll data. Additionally, pre-validation of information on SimplePay helps identify and rectify errors before submission, ensuring a smoother process. Don’t forget to monitor the status of your submissions to verify successful filing with SARS.

Is Submission Optional?

In short, no. Employers have a legal obligation to submit employee information to SARS. Failure to do so can lead to penalties, including a monthly penalty of 1% of the total annual PAYE, from June 2024 until submission (capped at 10%). It’s important to keep in mind that willful or negligent failure to submit can result in fines or even imprisonment of up to two years; this applies to both EMP201s and EMP501s.

Luckily, with SimplePay’s filing documentation, the compliance aspect of your submissions is already taken care of! Our system automatically generates EMP201s, EMP501s, and employee tax certificates based on your finalised payroll information. We also have a helpful guide on the filing process, which can be accessed on our help page here.

If you need any assistance, please feel free to reach out to our friendly Support team at support@simplepay.cloud.

Not a SimplePay member yet? We recommend signing up for a free, 30-day trial today to see just how simple filing season can be!

Take care,

SimplePay