SARS PAYE Employer Reconciliation BRS V24 0 1 Vocabulary

Public Release

This document outlines the requirements for generating an import tax file for yearly and interim submissions.
Effective from March 1, 2025, for Payroll Suppliers, until an updated version replaces it. SARS systems will implement changes in September 2025.

Revision History

February 2025 - Version 24.0.0
- Document Update:
  - New source codes: 3623/3673, 4042, 4588, 4589
  - Description changes: 3020, 3907
  - Validation changes: 3230, 3232
  - Changes highlighted in green.
April 2025 - Version 24.0.1
- Document update: Correction of typing errors in initial document.
- Changes highlighted in yellow.

Definition and Acronyms
Introduction
General Rules for Import File Structure
File Layout
Rules for the Consolidation of Source Codes from 2010 Year of Assessment
Source Code Descriptions
- Normal Income Codes
- Allowance Codes
- Fringe Benefit Codes
- Lump Sum Codes
- Gross Remuneration Codes
- Deduction Codes
- Employees’ Tax Deduction, Employment Tax Incentives, and Reason Codes
Appendix A: Country Codes
Appendix B: Number Validations
- Modulus 10 Check on Income Tax Number
- Modulus 10 Check on PAYE/SDL/UIF Reference Number
- Modulus 13 Check on ID Number
Appendix C: SIC7 Codes
Appendix D: SIC7 Codes That Do Not Qualify for ETI
Appendix E: Special Economic Zones for ETI Purposes

Definition and Acronyms

Alpha: Includes A-Z (upper and lower case), dash (-), space, apostrophe/single inverted comma (‘), and characters like ê, ë.
Alphanumeric: Includes Alpha characters and numbers 0-9.
Asylum Seeker: A person seeking recognition as a refugee, possessing an asylum seeker permit under Section 22(1) of the Refugees Act, 1998.
Certificate Type: Type of certificate for which tax is levied (IRP5, IT3(a), ITREG). Additional types may be added later.
Conditional Fields: Fields that must be completed subject to defined conditions.
Current Date: The actual system date when the validation is performed.
EMP501: Employer Reconciliation Declaration Form.
EMP601: Tax Certificate Cancellation Declaration Form.
EMP701: Reconciliation Adjustment Declaration Form; used with EMP601 for adjusting pre-modernization reconciliation submissions for 1999-2008. Not applicable from 2009 onwards.
Employee: Defined in the Fourth and Seventh Schedules to the Income Tax Act.
Employee’s Tax: Tax an employer must deduct/withhold from remuneration, as defined in the Fourth Schedule to the Income Tax Act.
Employer: Defined in the Fourth and Seventh Schedules to the Income Tax Act.
ETI: Employment Tax Incentive.
Foreign Bank Account: An account with a financial institution not recognized by BANKSERV.
Free Text: Includes Alpha, Numeric, and Special Characters, adhering to ISO-8859-1 encoding.
ID Number: A 13-digit identity number issued under the Identification Act (No. 72 of 1986).
IRP5/IT3(a): Employee Income Tax Certificate.
IT: Income Tax.
Mandatory Fields: Fields that must be completed without exception.
May: Indicates an optional requirement within a validation rule.
Must: Indicates a mandatory requirement within a validation rule.
Numeric: Numbers from 0 to 9.
Optional Fields: Fields that can be completed based on applicability and availability.
PAYE: Pay-As-You-Earn.
Reconciliation Declaration: The EMP501 form for declaring PAYE, SDL, and UIF liabilities and associated payments.
Reconciliation Submission Process: The process by which an Employer submits all required PAYE, SDL and UIF documentation to SARS for processing.
Refugee: A person granted asylum under the Refugees Act, 1998, possessing an identity document under Section 30 of the Act.
SARS: South African Revenue Service.
SDL: Skills Development Levy as per Section 3 of the Skills Development Levies Act (No. 9 of 1999).
SEZ: Special Economic Zones approved by the Minister of Finance, allowing ETI claims as per Section 6(a)(ii) of the Employment Tax Incentive Act, 2013 (Act No. 26 of 2013).
SIC7: Standard Industrial Classification (SIC Coder v7).
SITE: Standard Income Tax on Employees; applicable only on annualized net remuneration up to R60,000 (not applicable from the 2014 year of assessment).
Transaction Year: The tax year during which the employer deducted and paid employees’ tax.
UIF Contribution: Unemployment Insurance Fund contribution as per Section 6 of the Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act (No. 4 of 2002).
Year of Assessment: The tax year in which the remuneration paid or payable to an employee accrued.

Introduction

*Changes introduced are a vital part of SARS’s long-term vision to have a more accurate reconciliation process.
*The Employers Reconciliation Declaration (EMP501) has always been an important part of the year of assessment for employers, when submitting their annual reconciliations for the period 1 March to 28/29 February for Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE), Skills Development Levy (SDL) and Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).
*The first Interim Reconciliation submission, for a six month period, took place from 1 September to 29 October 2010.
*Submissions can be made via:

Manual
Electronic
Electronic file import in eFiling.
*The reconciliation and submission of the EMP501 return and tax certificates to SARS must take place within the dates announced from year to year as the employer’s filing season. Failure to do so may result in penalties and interest.

General Rules for Import File Structure

The record structure includes:
- Employer demographic header record
- Employee demographic, financial, and ETI information records.
- Employer totals trailer record.
Each import file must contain information for only one employer.
The import file must contain tax certificates of employees with a ‘year of assessment’ equal to or prior to the ‘transaction year’.
Certificates for prior transaction years must comply with the BRS version rules.
IRP5/IT3(a) and ITREG certificate types cannot be combined; ITREG records must be in a separate file without a completed transaction year.
Codes in the import file must follow the format: code, information (e.g., 3015,”IRP5”), code, value (e.g., 3240,2), or code, amount (e.g., 3601,5000 or 4102,500.00).
Amounts must not be reported as negative values.
Fields must not contain commas (,) or pipes (|).
Zero-value fields should be left blank unless specified otherwise.
Cents for Rand amounts must be omitted (rounded down) except for codes 4101, 4102, 4115, 4141, 4142, 4149, 4116, 4118, 4120, 6030, 7002, 7003, 7004 and 7008, where the Rand value including the cents must be specified (even if it is zero).
Dates must be in CCYYMMDD, CCYYMM, or CCYY format.
Alpha, AlphaNumeric, and Free Text fields must be enclosed in double quotation marks (e.g., 3030,”Horn”).
Data fields cannot start with a space.
Income source codes are limited to 20, and employee/employer deduction codes to 12; consolidation rules apply (section 6).
Monthly ETI data must be added for qualifying employees. For interim submissions, report 6 months (March-August); for final, 12 months (March-February).
If an employee does not qualify for ETI, the ETI fields must not be completed.
If an employee qualifies for ETI, all ETI codes and values must be completed for all months.
Tax certificates require at least one income code with a value greater than zero, except for remuneration in respect of code 3615 which may be zero.

File Layout

This section lists all the fields that are required for the file in a table format.
Name: the name of the relevant field associated with the code.
Code: the source code that must be used to indicate the relevant information.
Length: indicates the type and maximum number of characters or digits that may be entered for the field.
- N - numeric field.
- A - alpha field.
- AN - alphanumeric field.
- FT - free text field.
Description: a brief description of the field and the information required for that field
Validation rules: the validation rules that must be complied with to ensure that the information declared is acceptable to SARS.

Employer Information

Name	Code	Length	Description	Validation Rules
Trading or Other Name	2010	FT90	Name or trading name of employer issuing the certificate	• Mandatory field• First code of record of the electronic file• Must not be preceded by any other character (e.g. space, comma, etc.).
TEST / LIVE indicator	2015	A4	TEST or LIVE submission indicator	• Mandatory field• Must consist of 4 characters• Value must only be TEST or LIVE• If the certificate type is ITREG this value must be LIVE.
PAYE Reference Number	2020	N10	The reference number of the employer.	• Mandatory field• Must consist of 10 numeric characters• Where the employer is registered for PAYE purposes the number must start with a “7” and where the employer is not registered for PAYE purposes, the number must start with either 0, 1, 2, 3 or 9• Code 4101, 4102 and / or 4115 is invalid if the number does not start with a “7”• Must be a valid reference number (apply modulus 10 test).
SDL Reference Number	2022	AN10	Skills Development Levy reference number of the Employer	• Mandatory if registered for SDL• Must consist of 1 alpha and 9 numerical characters• Must start with an “L”• Must be a valid reference number (apply modulus 10 test)• If PAYE reference number is completed, last 9 digits of SDL reference number must be the same as last 9 digits of PAYE reference number, except if the PAYE number starts with 0, 1, 2, 3 or 9• If the UIF reference number is completed, the last 9 digits of the SDL number must be the same as the last 9 digits of the UIF reference number.
UIF Reference Number	2024	AN10	Unemployment Insurance Fund Reference Number for Employer	• Mandatory if registered for UIF• Must start with a “U”• Must be a valid reference number (apply modulus 10 test)• If PAYE reference number is completed, last 9 digits of UIF reference number must be the same as last 9 digits of PAYE reference number, except if the PAYE number starts with 0, 1, 2, 3 or 9• If the SDL reference number is completed, the last 9 digits of the UIF number must be the same as the last 9 digits of the SDL reference number.
Employer Contact Person: First Name	2025	A50	Indicates the first name of the contact person	• Mandatory.
Employer Contact Person: Surname	2036	A50	Indicates the surname of the contact person	• Mandatory
Employer Contact Person: Position at Business	2038	A50	Indicates the position of the contact person in the business	• Optional
Employer Contact Person: Bus Tel No	2026	AN15	Indicates the business telephone number of the contact person	• Conditional – either Employer Contact Person: Bus No or Employer Contact Person: Cell No must be provided• Only numeric values are allowed• No spaces are allowed• Must be at least 10 characters long• + is not allowed.• National numbers must start with a 0• International numbers must start with 00
Employer Contact Person: Fax No	2039	AN15	Indicates the fax number of the contact person	• Optional• Only numeric values are allowed• No spaces are allowed• Must be at least 10 characters long• + is not allowed.• National numbers must start with a 0• International numbers must start with 00
Employer Contact Person: Cell No	2040	AN15	Indicates the cell phone number of the contact person	• Conditional – either Employer Contact Person: Bus No or Employer Contact Person: Cell No must be provided• Only numeric values are allowed• No spaces are allowed• Must be at least 10 characters long• + is not allowed.• National numbers must start with a 0• International numbers must start with 00
Employer Contact E-mail address	2027	FT70	Indicates the e-mail address of the contact person	• Optional• The following characters are NOT allowed: Open bracket (, Close bracket ), Back slash \, Pipe
Payroll Software Provider	2028	FT70	Indicates the Payroll Software Provider	• Conditionalo If transaction year (source code 2030) is greater or equal to 2020, then this field is mandatoryo If transaction year (source code 2030) is less than 2020, then this field is optional
Payroll Software Package	2029	FT70	Indicates which commercial payroll software package is being used.	• Mandatory
Transaction Year	2030	N4	The year of assessment	• Mandatory field• Must consist of 4 numeric characters• Format: CCYY• Year cannot be less than 1999• Year cannot be greater than current calendar year plus one• If the certificate type is ITREG this field must not be completed.
Period of Reconciliation	2031	N6	Indicates the submission period.	• Mandatory if the transaction year is greater than 2010• Format CCYYMM• This field must be a valid period in the transaction year specified• If the certificate type is ITREG this field must not be completed.
Employer SIC7 Code	2082	AN5	The Employer Standard Industry Classification Code	• Conditional:o Mandatory if Period of recon is 201402 or later• Use the 5-digit sub-class• Only numeric values are allowed
Employer SEZ Code	2083	AN3	The Employer’s Special Economic Zone Code	• Optional• If the certificate type is ITREG or Transaction Year is equal or greater than 2020, then this field must not be completed.
Employer Trade Classification	2035	N4	The activity code according to the VAT 403 Trade Classification guide	• Conditional:o If Transaction Year is prior to 2021, then this field is optionalo From 2021 Transaction Year, this field must not be completed
Diplomatic Indemnity Indicator	2037	A1	Indicates if the employer enjoys diplomatic indemnity	• Conditional:• For transaction year prior to 2020, this field is optional• From 2020 transaction year, this field is mandatory• Value must only be Y or N
Employer Physical Address: Unit Number	2061	AN8	Indicates the unit number of the physical address	• Optional.
Employer Physical Address: Complex	2062	FT26	Indicates the complex name of the physical address	• Optional.
Employer Physical Address: Street Number	2063	AN8	Indicates the street number of the physical address	• Optional.
Employer Physical Address: Street / Name of Farm	2064	FT26	Indicates the street / name of farm of the physical address	• Mandatory.
Employer Physical Address: Suburb / District	2065	FT33	Indicates the suburb / district of the physical address	• Conditional – either the Suburb / District field or the City / Town field must be completed.
Employer Physical Address: City / Town	2066	FT21	Indicates the city / town of the physical address	• Conditional – either the Suburb / District field or the City / Town field must be completed.
Employer Physical Address: Postal Code	2080	AN4	Indicates the postal code of the physical address	• Mandatory• Fixed length• Must consist of 4 numeric characters, (e.g. ‘0040’ must be written to the import file as “0040” and not as “40”)• Must not be “0000”• In case where there is no postal code for the employer physical address, use the nearest postal code
Employer Physical Address: Country Code	2081	A2	Indicates the country code of the Employer’s Physical Address	• Mandatory• Default to ZA
End of record	9999	N4	Indicates the end of the record.	• Mandatory• Fixed code• Last code of the electronic record• Must not be followed by any other character (e.g. space, comma, etc.).

Tax Certificate Information

Employee Information

Name	Code	Length	Description	Validation Rules
Certificate Number	3010	AN30	Unique Certificate number allocated to certificates issued	• Mandatory field• Fixed length (must be 30 characters long)• First code of the employee’s record• Must not be preceded by any other character (e.g. space, comma, etc.)• MUST ONLY contain the following characters: Alphabet A until Z (Upper Case), Numbers 0 to 9• The format of the certificate number must be as follows:o First 10 digits must be the employer PAYE reference number (or where an Income Tax number has been used, the income tax number.o Followed by the Transaction Year (the Transaction Year must be equal to the value for code 2030 per record).o Followed by the concluding calendar year’s month of the reconciliation:▪ If the MM of the Period of Reconciliation (code 2031) is 08 then this value must be 08, or, if a final certificate is issued, must be 02.▪ If the MM of the Period of Reconciliation (code 2301) is 02 then this value must be 02o Thereafter a unique combination of alpha and numeric characters can be used to complete the number.o Should all characters not be used left padding with zeroes after the period must be applied, i.e. if the number is 7000000000201002 and the unique number is 11111 then the number must be reflected as 700000000020100200000000011111• If the certificate type is ITREG this field must not be completed.• Where a final certificate was issued in the bi-annual submission, the full year certificate must have the same certificate number• If a certificate is cancelled and replaced with a new certificate, the certificate number of the cancelled/replaced certificate MAY Not be reused and allocated to the same or another employee in the same or prior year
Type of Certificate	3015	AN6	Indicates type of certificate	• Mandatory• Can only be IRP5 or IT3(a) or ITREG• If IRP5 is indicated, either code 4101,4102 or 4115 must have a value greater than zero and code 4150 must not be included• If IT3(a) is indicated, code 4150 must have a value and codes 4101, 4102 and 4115 must not be included• IRP5 cannot be indicated if the PAYE number starts with either 0,1,2,3 or 9.
Nature of Person	3020	A1	Indicates nature of person	• Mandatory field• Valid options — Natural Persono A = Individual with an identity or passport number that:▪ For years of assessment prior to 2020, is not a Director of a Private Company / Member of a CC. Note: From the 2020 year of assessment, directors of a Private Company / member of a CC must be included▪ Is not an Asylum Seeker, Pensioner or Refugeeo B = Individual without an identity or passport number that:▪ For years of assessment prior to 2020, is not a Director of a Private Company / Member of a CC. Note: From the 2020 year of assessment, directors of a Private Company / member of a CC must be included▪ Is not an Asylum Seeker, Pensioner or Refugeeo C = Director of a private company / member of a CC (not applicable from 2020 year of assessment)o M = Asylum Seekero N = Retirement Fund Lump Sum Recipient or Pensioner or Savings Withdrawal Benefit Recipient.o R = RefugeeNon-natural persono D = Trusto E = Company / CCo F = Partnershipo G = Corporationo H = Personal Service Provider• If Type of Certificate is ITREG, then Nature of Person must only be A, B, C, M, N or R
Year of Assessment	3025	N4	The year in which the remuneration accrued.	• Mandatory field• Must consist of 4 numeric characters• Format: CCYY• Year cannot be less than 1999. Where year of assessment is less than 1999, the certificate must be included in the 1999 reconciliation – reconciliations prior to this date must not be accepted• Year cannot be greater than current calendar year plus one• Year of Assessment cannot be greater than Transaction year (code 2030)• If the certificate type is ITREG this field must not be completed.
ETI (Employment Tax Incentive) Indicator	3026	A1	Indicates that the certificate contains an ETI value.	• Conditional –o Determine if the employer qualifies for ETI, by checking if all the following conditions are true:▪ Type of certificate (code 3015) is IRP5 or IT3(a); and▪ Year of Assessment (code 3025) is 2014 or later; and▪ Period of reconciliation (code 2031) is 201402 or later; and▪ Employer SIC7 code (code 2082) is not listed in appendix Do If the employer does not qualify for ETI, then this field MUST NOT be included in the import fileo If the employer qualifies for ETI, then determine if the employee qualifies for ETI in terms of the ETI Act for one or more months in the reconciliation period by checking if all the following conditions are true:▪ If Nature of person (code 3020) is A or C or R and Id number is valid; or▪ Nature of person (code 3020) is M and Alternate Identification Number is populated▪ If ETI Employment date (code 3190) is on or after 01/10/2013 and Year of Assessment (code 3025) is < 2021 and > 2022.▪ Year of Assessment (code 3025) is equal to Transaction Year (code 2030)Note: For the 2021 & 2022 YoA, the employment date is not validated to allow employer to claim ETI for employees as per the COVID-19 ruleso If the employee qualifies for ETI in any of the months during the reconciliation period, then this field must be included in the import file and the value must be Y (Yes)o If the employee does not qualify for ETI in any of the months during the reconciliation period, then this field must be included in the import file and the value must be N (No)
Employee surname or trading name	3030	FT120	Surname of the employee or trading name of the employee.	• Mandatory field• If the Nature of Person is A / B / C / M / N / R enter the surname of the individual• If the Nature of Person is A / B / C / M / N / R, numeric characters are not allowed• If Nature of Person is D / E / F / G / H the trading name of the trust / company / partnership or corporation must be entered.
First Two Names	3040	A90	First two names of the employee	• Mandatory if Nature of Person is A / B / C / M / N / R• Numeric characters not allowed• This field must not be completed if Nature of Person is D / E / F / G / H.
Initials	3050	A5	Initials of the employee	• Mandatory if Nature of Person is A / B / C / M / N / R• This field must not be completed if Nature of Person is D / E / F / G / H• Only characters A to Z and a to z must be used• Must not contain the following characters:o Dash (-)o Space ( )o Comma (,)o Apostrophe (‘)o Full stop (.)o Characters such as ê, ë etc.
Identity number	3060	N13	RSA identity number of the employee.	• Conditional:• If Nature if Person is A/C and passport number is not completed, then Identity Number MUST be (mandatory) completed• If Nature of Person is A/C and Country of Issue is ZAF, the Identity Number MUST be (mandatory) completed• If Nature of Person is R, then Identity Number MUST be (mandatory) completed• If Nature of Person is B / D / E / F / G / H / M, then Identity Number MUST NOT be completed• If Nature of Person is N, then Identity Number MAY be (optional) completed• Must consist of 13 characters• Must be a valid South African ID-number and pass the modulus 13 check as defined in Appendix B• Must correlate with the date of birth.
Passport number	3070	AN18	Passport number of the employee.	• Conditional:o If Nature of Person is A / C and identity number is not completed, then Passport number MUST be completedo If Nature of Person is A /C/ R and identity number is completed, then Passport number MAY be completedo If Nature of Person is N / M, then Passport number MAY be completedo If Nature of Person B / D / E / F / G / H, then Passport Number MUST NOT be completed• Minimum of 6 characters• Country of issue (code 3075) must be completed• No spaces are allowed.
Country of Issue	3075	A3	Indicates the country that issued the passport	• Mandatory if passport number has been completed.
Alternate Identification Type	3065	N1	The type of alternate identification provided in the alternate identification number field	• Conditional:o Must not be completed if Nature of Person is A / B / C / F / N or Ro May be completed if Nature of Person is D / E / G / Ho Must be completed if Nature of Person is Mo Valid values:o 1 – South African company/ close corporation registration number if Nature of Person is E / G / Ho 2 – South African trust registration number if Nature of Person is D / Ho 3 – Asylum Permit Number if Nature of Person is M• If Identity Number is completed, then this field must be equal to 4• If Passport Number is completed and Country of Issue is not equal to ZAF, then this field must be equal to 5
Alternate Identification Number	3066	FT30	The number to identify the employee	• Conditional:o Must be completed if Alternate Identification Type is 1 or 2o Must not be completed if Alternate Identification Type is or not completed• If Alternate Identification type is 1, then Alternate identification number:o Must be in the format CCYY/NNNNNN/NNo CCYY must be a valid year from 1800 up to, but not greater than the current yearo The last two digits must be either of the following - 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 30, 31
Date of birth	3080	N8	Date of birth of the employee.	• Mandatory if Nature of Person is A / B / C / M / N / R• Must not be completed for Nature of Person D / E / F / G / H• Must consists of 8 numeric characters• Format: CCYYMMDD• Must correlate with the identity number (if any)• Date cannot be greater than the current date.
Income tax reference number	3100	N10	Income tax reference number of employee.	• Conditional:o If Nature of Person (code 3020) is ‘F’, then Income tax reference number must not be completedo If Type of certificate (code 3015) is ITREG, then Income tax reference number is optionalo If Type of certificate (code 3015) is IRP5 and PAYE (code 4102) is zero and PAYE on retirement lump sum and severance benefits (code 4115) is greater than zero, then Income tax reference number is optionalo If Type of certificate (code 3015) is IRP5 and PAYE (code 4102) is greater than zero, the Income tax reference number is mandatoryo If Type of certificate (code 3015) is IT3(a) and Reason code for IT3(a) (code 4150) is 02 or 04, then Income tax reference number is optionalo If Type of certificate (code 3015) is IT3(a) and Reason code for IT3(a) is not 02 and not 04, then Income tax reference number is mandatory• Where the certificate is issued for Nature of Person A, B, C, D, M, N or R; the number must only start with either 0, 1, 2, or 3• Where the certificate is issued for Nature of Person E, G, H the number must start with a 9• Must pass modulus 10 test
Employee SIC7 Code	3263	AN5	The Standard Industry Classification Code in which the employees mainly work.	• Mandatory if Nature of Person is not N and Period of Recon is 201402 or later.• Field must not be completed if Nature of Person is equal to N• Optional for Period of Recon prior to 201402.• Use the 5-digit sub-class• Only numeric values are allowed• If the certificate type is ITREG this field must not be completed.
Employee SEZ Code	3264	AN3	The Special Economic Zone Code where the employee mainly works.	• Optional• If the certificate type is ITREG or (Year of Assessment is equal or greater than 2020), then this field must not be completed.
Employee contact E-mail	3125	FT70	Employee e-mail address	• Optional• The following characters are NOT allowed:o Open bracket (o Close bracket )o Back slash \o Pipe
Employee Home Tel No	3135	AN15	Employee home telephone number	• Optional• Only numeric values are allowed• No spaces are allowed• Must be at least 10 characters long• + is not allowed.• National numbers must start with a 0• International numbers must start with 00
Employee Bus Tel No	3136	AN15	Employee business telephone number	• Mandatory if Nature of Person is not N• Only numeric values are allowed• No spaces are allowed• Must be at least 10 characters long• + is not allowed.• National numbers must start with a 0• International numbers must start with