This new specification contains a number of changes that your payroll supplier will need to implement before August, so you do need to confirm with them the process of accessing/downloading these changes once they have been completed.

More importantly, these changes will require certain processing and procedural changes from the employers’ side to ensure that they have been correctly implemented and are being applied correctly in practice. The more significant changes include:

• additional validation and further information regarding the formats of Email Addresses, Tax Certificate Numbers and the Fixed Rate Taxation Indicator;

• tightening up of validation on some of the ETI related codes;

• if the employee buys a meal for up to R 50 and the employer reimburses the employee (must have a supporting receipt/slip!) then this R 50 is not deemed as remuneration and as such does not need to be recorded on the IRP5 / IT3(a). Previously this was recorded under code 3713;   

• additional facilities and validation to cater for an increased number of Tax Directives the employee can have during the tax year. There are some additional IRP5 codes that have been created to store Directive related information such as Directive Issued Date, Directive Source Code (there are only certain income codes that can be used – e.g. lump sum payments relating to share schemes, retirement fund payouts, arbitration awards, retrenchment payouts, etc) and Directive Amount. This is to cater for employees who receive multiple lump sum payments during the tax year, all of which require a Tax Directive before they can be paid out.    

You can find the recently published full version here: https://www.sars.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/Docs/PAYE/SARS_PAYE_BRS-PAYE-Employer-Reconciliation_V20-0-0.pdf