The South Africa Revenue Services require employers to submit accurate and correct information during the submission period, and employers can check the following for a successful submissions

The months of January and February allow employers to check and verify their payrolls prior to the end of the tax year, to ensure any possible and issues that might impact on the submission is identified, prior to starting the new tax year.

Here are te recommendations for preparation of your payroll:

Ensure you are on the correct software release

• Your payroll should be on Release 5.9a or 5.9b (recommended) to ensure compatibility with the latest SARS e@syFile software
• If you are still processing your payroll on an older version, please ensure to update you payroll before starting the new tax year

Validate/Review your company data

• When you have multiple companies that form part of a submission, ensure that the reference numbers (PAYE, SDL and UIF) and contact details are correct for each company - this can be reviewed on the Basic Company Information screen
• Verify that the processing date of your company is correct and aligned to end correctly - review the Period Info screen
• Review the Tax tables on the Tax Rates screen
• Click here for more information on the Basic Company Information screen

Validate/review your employees data

• Ensure all employee details (names, addresses, banking details) are correct and updated
• Validate that each employee's tax status and dates are correct
• Print the IRP5/IT3a Validation report to identify possible errors. Printing the IRP5 Validation report. You can find solutions to any validation error by accessing SageKB.com
• Print the Negative YTD report (also available during Start New Period process) Ensure you do not have any negative values per IRP5 code. Your IRP5 file will be rejected if negative values appear against any IRP5 code
• Print the Reimbursive Travel History report to identify any errors

Reconcile your PAYE, SDL, UIF and ETI declarations and payments

• Generate the EMP501 Reconciliation History report to reconcile with your EMP201 declarations and payments on eFiling. This makes it easier to quickly identify any irregularities that might have changed your payroll values during the current tax year
• Reconcile ETI values if your company has claimed the incentive. You can print the EMP501 Reconciliation History report to list month by month ETI values. The ETI Validation Report (Real number 767 on Reports and Maintenance) should have been printed each month to assist with the reconciliation
• You can use of the ETI Validation Utility help you verify your ETI setup, perform corrections and create an import file for easy import into the payroll. It is important to note that ETI not utilised cannot be carried into the new tax year

Should you require assistance with these preparations, please contact your Sage accredited Business Partner for assistance, or click here to book a consultation.