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As a business owner, you have an ongoing responsibility to ensure that your tax filings are accurate and submitted to SARS on time. 

This duty goes beyond your company tax returns and includes a full review of the withholding tax that your company deducts from employee salaries throughout the year – and the EMP501 form is used to report this information to SARS. 

Let’s take a look at how this crucial EMP501 tax form works and find out why it’s so important to submit it correctly before the deadline.

EMP501 Explained 

If you ask your outsourced accounting consultant, you’ll quickly learn that an EMP501 reconciliation is a listing of all employee earnings compiled for SARS. 

Here’s what goes into this complex reconciliation. 

  • Your company must reconcile the payroll taxes and other HR liabilities like PAYE, SDL and UIF that were deducted each month and submitted using form EMP201 (monthly employer declarations)
  • If any discrepancies are found they’ll need to be corrected and declared on the EMP501 before the due date. 

SARS needs to know that the deductions your business has made against your staff’s wages and salaries are correct and allowable. 

The EMP501 reconciliation is an essential tax submission that needs to be 100% accurate in order to avoid non-compliance action from the revenue authorities. 

 

Certain mandatory fields for each employee need to be completed on the Interim Tax Certificate to submit the EMP501 reconcilliation. These are:

  • Name and surname
  • Income tax reference number 
  • ID or passport number
  • Residential address
  • Date of employment (current financial year)
  • Remuneration details (current financial year)
  • Bank account details of employee


When is the EMP501 deadline? 

EMP501 reconciliations are due twice during the financial year:

  • An interim submission for the period 1 March to 31 August was due on the 31st of October 2022.
  • The full tax year submission (for the year starting on 1 March and ending the following 28 or 29 February) must be submitted by the 31st of May.

How do I submit my EMP501?

If your business employs less than 50 workers you can file using either SARS eFiling or
e@syFile Employer.

Larger employers will need the latest version of e@syFile Employer in order to complete the process. 

Don’t let payroll and tax submissions become a headache. We’ve got you covered.

If you’d rather focus on your business growth strategy than check the fine details of a tax form, look no further. 

Our expert team is as passionate about accounting as you are about your business. 

To learn more about our outsourced accounting solutions, contact Bletchleys today.

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