Tax deadline hitting this week – what you need to know
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has urged all employers to comply with their legal obligations regarding the annual Employers Filing Season to avoid penalties, interest and/or criminal charges.
Submissions for the period between 1 March 2022 – 28 February 2023 are set to close on Wednesday (31 May).
According to the revenue service, employers are required to submit their Employer Annual Reconciliation Declarations (EMP501) to SARS, as well as outstanding monthly declarations (EMP201) and previous years’ annual reconciliations (EMP501).
“Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) payments must be up to date, and the IRP5/IT3(a) data provided to SARS must be verified and accurate.”
“The correct data is important so that SARS may pre-populate income tax returns and auto-assess the identified taxpayers correctly.”
“The correct data is also important where taxpayers have to file a return, to enable them to do so with the correct information during the filing season for individuals, which starts in July 2023,” SARS said.
SARS has also requested employees to check if their details on the IRP5/IT3(a) are correct.
Third-party data suppliers such as medical aid schemes and banks are also required to submit verified and accurate information to SARS and to their clients, said the tax authority.
“These are important requirements that enable SARS to offer a streamlined and seamless service to taxpayers in line with our objective to make it easy and simple for taxpayers to comply with their obligations.”
Employers, tax practitioners and payroll administrators need to download the latest version of Employers e@syFile.
This online channel allows employers to submit their EMP501 electronically. SARS also encourages small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) to use this platform and move from manual to automated payroll systems.
Moreover, SARS requires taxpayers to submit their Third Party Data Annual Submissions for 2023 by the end of this month.
On 11 May, SARS reported that it had only received 35% of its expected submissions for the period.
Read: SARS issues new tax alert – showing it won’t hold back
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