1 March is the day
From 1 March, you will be rolling over into the new tax year. Most payroll systems now “lock down the old tax year” and you can no longer change any of that information. So sort out any issues before the tax year-end. You really don’t want to start having to open the payroll to change earnings or deductions or add information once 7 March has come.
Here are five things that will make your life easier:
1) Check that your employees details are complete
Check that all the information required by the Receiver is correct and complete for all employees. To do this, you need to draw a report from your payroll system listing the following:
- Address of the employee.
- Banking details of the employee.
- Identity, work permit or passport number.
- Tax reference number.
2) That all reconciliations are done – payroll deductions to Emp 201 submitted and paid to SARS
Reconcile all Emp. 201 payments made to SARS to the figures declared on the monthly Emp. 201 form submitted to the Receiver. These must balance. (If not, correct the issue as soon as possible – or make a note of why there is a difference, so you can explain it on your annual submission).
The best way to check the balances is the EMPSA from SARS. This shows the actual payments that have been recorded for the year, and can be compared with the year-to-date totals from your payroll system. If this balances then the Emp.501 reconciliation on Easyfile should not be a problem.
3) Confirm all submissions to SARS
Check to make sure that SARS has received all your EMP.201 submissions and that there are no outstanding issues that need to be dealt with. It is ALWAYS a good idea to keep up to date with SARS documentation.
4) Remind company car and travel allowance holders
Remind all your employees who have company cars or car allowance to record their millage first thing on 1 March. Make sure all the details of the vehicle are recorded on the payroll. They will need to upload their log book or make sure that the logbook is complete for the tax year.
5) Resolve any outstanding issues
Make sure that all the earnings and deductions are listed under the right payroll codes. In addition, make sure you have all the information for any retirement annuity and medical aid tax deductions you have made.
It is a useful exercise to run a test IRP 5 upload, since this can show you any faulty issues, such as negative 3601 income or negative retirement funding income which can be corrected in the February payroll. It will also give you any area of incomplete or missing information. These all have to be corrected before Easyfile will accept the upload file.
Guide for codes – employee tax certificates 2023 (click here)
List of registered bargaining councils (click here)
If this feels to overwhelming, consider joining the many happy Paymaster clients. Contact our Helpdesk for additional information.