Latest news with #EMP501
The Citizen
4 days ago
- Business
- The Citizen
Looming tax deadline and glitches cause frustration
Additional measures were implemented to help taxpayers stay compliant – and if not for the 'procrastinators' the problem 'could have been fixed' by now. The chances of an extension to Friday's deadline are slim. Picture: AdobeStock In the run-up to this year's filing season, employers are battling to meet the deadline for submission of their annual employer reconciliation declarations to the South African Revenue Service (Sars). The deadline is Friday. Employers experienced glitches after Sars released an updated version of e@syFile, the software used to reconcile and validate the payroll data and electronic employee tax certificates submitted to Sars. Employers submit monthly declarations, and the annual declaration (EMP501) reflects all the payments made in terms of employee pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) tax, Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) contributions, and employee tax incentive (ETI) and skills development (SDL) levies. ALSO READ: 'Sars needs to play catch up,' says Kieswetter as tax collector goes digital System issues The system error forced Sars to make additional channels and measures available to enable employers to submit their information on time, says Ettiene Retief, independent tax specialist. The new version created 'unexpected' issues where employers were unable to submit their EMP501 returns. Following complaints from several recognised controlling bodies that represent tax practitioners, Sars acknowledged the problems. It gave employers access to the older version when they could not solve their issues with the new version, and addressed issues through a dedicated email support channel. Retief says the newer version might have been incompatible with specific anti-virus programmes used by employers or tax practitioners. System updates by employer payroll systems may also have caused the incompatibility with e@syFile. 'There are also procrastinators. We have had two months to deal with issues – if people started engaging earlier, the problem could have been fixed already,' he adds. ALSO READ: Sars beats expectations by collecting R1.855 trillion in 2024/25 tax year The go-between The Sars e@syFile software plays 'middleman' in the validation and reconciliation of the employer's payroll system and the validation of the electronic IRP5 tax certificate that is submitted to Sars. This enables Sars to pre-populate the tax returns of almost four million individual taxpayers, and those with more complicated tax affairs can submit their tax returns with correct tax information. According to Sars, the three elements that must reconcile for employer submissions include: Monthly employer declarations submitted (PAYE, SDL, UIF and ETI); Payments made (excluding penalty and interest payments); and IRP5/IT3(a)s generated. The chances of an extension of Friday's deadline are slim. Sars only has a month to process the information and start pre-populating tax returns for the start of the July filing season. 'If one deadline moves, it moves everything and that causes its own complications,' says Retief. Another system glitch that frustrated taxpayers and practitioners last month was the inability to upload documentation relating to value-added tax (Vat) returns. 'As far as I am aware the issues were addressed.' ALSO READ: Sars records increase in taxpayers who filed returns Refund delays André Daniels, head of tax controversy and dispute resolution at Tax Consulting SA, says taxpayers and tax practitioners alike are reporting a surge in delayed refunds. Sars is citing 'pending verifications or audits' – but only after a manual status check is performed. 'This is not a procedural glitch – this is a systemic failure with serious financial implications,' Daniels said in a recent statement. In many cases Sars has requested further verification documentation without issuing any formal notification through eFiling or via email. 'Making matters worse, there is often no link available to upload the required documents because no verification or audit letter was ever generated.' Daniels says even if the link is provided and documentation uploaded, additional assessments are subsequently issued, stating that the 'burden of proof' was not discharged. His advice to taxpayers is to act proactively and to confirm whether any verifications or audits have been raised behind the scenes. He also advises taxpayers to use the dispute resolution steps to correct assessments where appropriate. Retief notes that Sars is constantly upgrading, adding and changing its systems and programmes as part of its modernisation and digitalisation drive. It is normal that there will be glitches. Sars is generally alerted to problems and issues through the different representative bodies. 'I know there were issues, but Sars was quick to respond and solve some of it.' This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
Zawya
09-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
South Africa: How outsourcing payroll can simplify the final leg of tax season?
In South Africa, the official tax year wraps up on the last day of February. But before you throw the confetti, there's still a critical leg of the journey to complete: final submissions to the South African Revenue Service (Sars) are only due by 31 May. That gives businesses three precious months to tie up every loose end - from reconciling payroll data to submitting accurate EMP501 declarations. Sounds easy? Not quite. These months are typically a scramble of: - Late paperwork - Staff on leave - System checks and software updates - Ever-changing tax legislation to navigate If that feels a bit overwhelming, you're not alone. And this is exactly where outsourcing payroll shows up as the unsung hero of the tax season. From March to May is when payroll teams really earn their keep. Businesses are under pressure to: - Reconcile PAYE, UIF, and SDL contributions - Cross-check monthly EMP201s against EMP501 totals - Issue IRP5s/IT3(a)s to employees (accurately!) - Navigate e@syFile or Sars online platforms - often with technical glitches or bandwidth issues thrown in for good measure Add in the usual quarterly workload, team leave, and resource constraints, and you've got a recipe for bottlenecks and burnout. Why outsourcing your payroll makes sense - especially now Here's how bringing in the pros can smooth the ride: - Compliance peace of mind South African payroll and tax laws are anything but static. Every year brings updates - sometimes subtle, sometimes sweeping. A reputable outsourced payroll partner lives and breathes this stuff. They: - Scalability when you need it most Tax season doesn't care if your ops team is lean or your HR manager's on leave. Outsourced providers offer built-in capacity, which means: Admin is a time-thief. Payroll in particular can hijack valuable hours that could be spent on strategy, planning, or even just keeping your team sane. When you outsource: - You get back headspace - You free up your internal team - You keep focus where it should be - on growing the business, not surviving tax season So, is it right for you? If your team dreads the tax season, consistently scrambles to meet Sars deadlines, or simply wanting to improve accuracy and control - outsourcing is worth exploring. It's not about replacing your team; it's about empowering them. Tick 31 May off with confidence The tax season doesn't need to be chaos with coffee-fueled late nights and last-minute fixes. By partnering with a payroll expert, you can sail through submissions, stay compliant, and focus on the big stuff - like making your business thrive. Let the pros worry about EMP501s. You focus on growing your empire. All rights reserved. © 2022. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
