Bi-annual Filing
Bi-annual tax filings are mandated by the South African Revenue Service (SARS) to ensure businesses maintain financial transparency and compliance.
Employer Responsibility
While Agrigistics automates much of the process, the employer is ultimately responsible for ensuring the accuracy and timely submission of all data. Double-check entries, payments, and submissions to avoid discrepancies and penalties.
Key Submission Periods
• End of August: Consolidate data for the period from March to August.
• End of February: Finalise the tax year by closing off data for the period from March to February.
EMP501
The Employer Reconciliation Declaration (EMP501) consolidates an employer's PAYE, UIF, and SDL obligations for all their employees during the tax year or bi-annual filing period. Essentially, it serves as a summary of all EMP201 submissions for that specific period, and, like the EMP201, includes information about the Employment Tax Incentive (ETI).
Tax Certificates (IRP5/IT3a)
Tax certificates serve as an official record of an employee's financial activities over a set period, capturing their income, deductions, and benefits.
Types of Certificates
IRP5s: Issued for employees with PAYE deductions.
IT3(a): For employees without PAYE deductions.
Issuing Certificates
It's mandatory for employers to provide these tax certificates to their employees. A printable tax certificate will only be generated by e@syfile in the case that a final certificate has been issued for an employee.
A final certificate is only issued either at year end, or when an employee is terminated prior to year end.
Health Checks and File Validation
Agrigistics simplifies the filing process with automated health checks, validation tools, and a structured approach to the final file download.
Health Checks (Pre-Warnings)
Agrigistics runs health checks as pre-warnings to flag potential issues before file generation. These checks help identify critical errors and non-critical warnings.
Critical Errors
Active Periods: Detected if employment period discrepancies exist.
Tax Code Issues: Misalignment or discrepancies in tax codes.
Missing Employee Information: Critical fields such as employee names or identification numbers that are incomplete or missing.
These critical errors must be resolved, and they are flagged in the validation file for review. For active period and tax code issues, manual intervention will be needed by contacting Agrigistics Support (support@agrigistics.co.za) will be required.
Warnings
Special Characters: If special characters are present in employee data, they will be removed during file generation.
Field Length Issues: Data fields exceeding allowable length limits will be trimmed automatically.
Warnings do not need to be fixed but are provided to inform users of changes made during the process.
IRP5 Validation Zip File
After the health checks, download the IRP5 Validation Zip File. This file provides a comprehensive summary of errors and warnings for you to review before final submission.
This file contains:
A detailed report of all critical errors and warnings.
A human-readable breakdown of the Employee Reconciliation File.
A filtered list of employees with outstanding information issues.
Carefully review this file and resolve any critical errors, such as missing employee information, active period or tax code discrepancies, before proceeding. Warnings do not require immediate action, but it’s important to be aware of them.
Reconciliation File Download
Agrigistics’ built-in validation tools minimise the chance of submission errors. If any unexpected issues arise, please contact support for assistance.
It is the client’s responsibility to inform Agrigistics about required take-on balances and ensure their timely submission. These balances are essential, as they directly influence the generated files.
Delays in submitting this information will result in errors or discrepancies during the reconciliation process.
Navigate to Payroll / Filing
Ensure that you have selected the correct company on the left of the page.
Scroll down to the August period
All August pay runs need to be finalised before the filing documents will be available for download.
Check the reconciliation health checks and download the validation file
Once all errors have been cleared and all warnings were checked, you can click on IRP5 and EMP501 buttons to download the files
Once downloaded do NOT open this file as it can change the formatting of the file. To view the information in the file refer to the validation file that has been downloaded.
Helpful Tools and Resources for Filing
Embarking on the filing process can seem daunting, but with the right tools and resources, it becomes more manageable. Here's a selection of aids to facilitate your experience:
SARS Employer Guide
A comprehensive guide provided by SARS to navigate the e@syFile system. It offers step-by-step instructions, making the reconciliation and submission processes smoother.
Video Tutorial on EMP501 Submission
For those who prefer visual guidance, this video tutorial walks you through the EMP501 submission process, offering practical tips along the way.
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