Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Tax Payment In South Africa
Employees’ Tax refers to the tax required to be deducted by an employer from an employee’s remuneration paid or payable. The process of deducting or withholding tax from remuneration as it is earned by an employee is commonly referred to as PAYE.
An employer who is registered or required to register with SARS for PAYE and/or Skills Development Levy (SDL) purposes, is also required to register with SARS for the payment of Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) contributions to SARS. You can register once for all different tax types using the client information system.
Who is it for?
The amounts deducted or withheld must be paid by the employer to SARS on a monthly basis, by completing the Monthly Employer Declaration (EMP201).
The EMP201 is a payment declaration in which the employer declares the total payment together with the allocations for PAYE, SDL, UIF and/or Employment Tax Incentive (ETI), if applicable.
A unique Payment Reference Number (PRN) will be pre-populated on the EMP201, and will be used to link the actual payment with the relevant EMP201 payment declaration.
How and when should it be paid?
It must be paid within seven days after the end of the month during which the amount was deducted. If the last day for payment falls on a public holiday or weekend, the payment must be made on the last business day before the public holiday or weekend. The following payment methods are available:
- eFiling
- Electronic payments (EFT)
- Payments at a bank: All payments can be made at any ABSA, Capitec, FNB, Nedbank or Standard Bank branch.
- Manual forms of payments will no longer be accepted by SARS. Cheques posted/delivered to SARS will be returned to the client.
Note: Please note that these changes exclude Customs.
Note: Employers who pay, or are likely to pay Employees’ Tax exceeding R10 million in any 12-month period, must submit Employees’ Tax declarations and make payments electronically.