There are two submissions that need to be made after month-end: an EMP201 and a UIF Declaration. This page provides more information on the EMP201. For information on the UIF Declaration, refer to the following page:
SimplePay automatically generates the EMP201 and UIF Declaration documents based on the finalised payslips for the month. In order to include all payslips, it is therefore important to ensure that all payslips for the month have been finalised. Once payslips have been finalised, click on the Filing section (on the sidebar menu) to view and download the EMP201.
What are EMP201s?
Every month employers need to pay over their PAYE, UIF and SDL liabilities, where applicable, to SARS. This payment must be made by the 7th (or the last business day before the 7th if it falls on a weekend) of the following month to avoid incurring penalties. The figures necessary for making these payments are contained in the EMP201. This provides a breakdown of PAYE, UIF and SDL, the ETI applicable and the total liability to SARS for the month.
The PAYE liability is reduced by the amount of ETI available, which can result in a PAYE liability of R0. This information is reported to SARS via e@syFile or the eFiling website. The employer must then pay the relevant amount over to SARS via EFT. Employers who are not registered for PAYE will pay the UIF liability directly to the Department of Labour.
More information on the various EMP201 components, as well as how to post ETI Utilised, can be found in the following articles:
Note: Submissions to SARS are done based on calendar months, irrespective of an employer’s pay frequency. The amounts reported in each submission will be for the month in which the pay frequency ends; e.g. if the pay frequency ends on the 25th of June, the amounts will be included in the EMP201 for 1 June to 30 June.
Finalising EMP201s
We strongly recommend that you also finalise both your EMP201 and UIF declaration as part of your month-end procedures. This will:
- allow the system to track changes or additions to payslips in that month and automatically generate updated versions of your submission documents if you need to re-submit;
- remove the stamp saying “Draft” to indicate that the document is now a final document and no longer a draft; and
- provide you with an audit trail of any changes or additions to the document.
Submitting to SARS
You can view a web or PDF version of your EMP201, either before or after finalising it. It is recommended that you finalise your EMP201 before using the information in this document to complete the submissions to SARS. We recommend registering for eFiling or using the e@syFile application, both available from the SARS website, to submit your EMP201s.
PAYE, SDL, UIF and ETI Breakdowns
When clicking on the web version of your EMP201, you will see the details of your EMP201, including PAYE, SDL, UIF and ETI. You can click on the amount next to PAYE liability, SDL liability, UIF liability or ETI calculated to see a breakdown of how the amount is calculated. The breakdown contains a list of the amount calculated for each employee, as well as the total of the amount calculated.
If this is not the first EMP201 generated for the month (in other words, there were changes made to payslips after the EMP201 for the month was finalised), you can also see the differences between the current EMP201 and the previous EMP201.
If there is a difference shown in the ETI breakdown between the ETI calculated in the current EMP201 and a prior version, you can click on the amount of the difference to see the reason for why the ETI calculated changed.
ETI Trace
If you click on the ETI amount next to an employee’s name in the ETI breakdown (see above), you will see the ETI Trace, which shows how the ETI is calculated for that employee. The following information can be found in the ETI Trace:
- Whether the employee qualifies for ETI or not.
- Whether the employee’s remuneration is grossed up or not.
- Whether the employee is in the first 12 qualifying months of ETI (<13), second 12 qualifying months (13-24) or a qualifying month greater than 24 months (>24)
- The ETI rule being applied
- The ETI calculation
Re-Submission
SARS allows you to re-submit your EMP201 if any changes have occurred. After you’ve finalised a submission for a month, the SimplePay system will track any changes or additions you make to payslips in that month and automatically generate a new version so that you may re-submit if necessary.
If you submit your EMP201 on time but correct it after the due date, SARS will levy a penalty against you if your initial PAYE liability was understated (i.e. the PAYE on your newly generated EMP201 is greater than the PAYE on the original submission). The penalty is calculated on the amount of PAYE outstanding: a 10% penalty is levied on the outstanding amount as well as interest at a rate of 7%.
For example, suppose that your initial EMP201 had a PAYE amount of R146 000 and your new EMP201 has PAYE of R148 000, you would owe SARS:
- R2 000 in underpaid PAYE, calculated as R148 000 – R146 000
- A R200 penalty, calculated as (R148 000 – R146 000) x 10%
- Interest of R0.38 per day, calculated as R2 000 x 7% / 365
If you submit your EMP201 on time, but correct it after the due date due resulting in your initial PAYE submission being overstated, no penalty is levied. You will, however, need to write to SARS to request that your PAYE credit be allocated to a specific pay period. This letter can be submitted via SARS’ online platform here.
Deactivating ETI
In some cases you might not be eligible to claim ETI even though you have qualifying employees. This could be, for example, if you have any outstanding tax returns or an outstanding tax debt. You could disable the claiming of ETI on your EMP201 in the following way:
- In the Filing section (on the sidebar menu), look for the EMP201 heading.
- Click on the Inputs link.
- Check the box next to Not eti compliant.
- Click Save.
Note regarding COVID-19 relief
Employers are required to capture their EMP201 return as per normal, and must declare their full PAYE liability for the relevant month. SARS has indicated that their system has been updated to do the calculation for the 35% deferment when the EMP201 is processed. A statement of account will be issued to the employer with the applicable amount payable.
Alternatively, the employer can calculate the 65% of the PAYE liability and make the necessary payment.