To determine the tax bracket for an employee who is paid a bonus in March, the first tax period of the tax year, with no normal taxable earnings, you would need to include this bonus in their remuneration for the tax year. The employee’s tax bracket is determined based on their total taxable income. Here is a step-by-step process:

Include the Bonus in the Remuneration: According to the South African Revenue Service, bonuses are included in the employee’s remuneration in the year they are paid. This means that the bonus paid in March will be included in the employee’s remuneration for that tax year.

Determine the Total Taxable Income: Since there are no other taxable earnings, the total taxable income for the employee would be the amount of the bonus paid.

Apply the Tax Brackets: The tax bracket can then be determined by applying the statutory tax rates for the tax year. This involves looking up the relevant tax brackets for the year and matching the employee’s total taxable income to the corresponding bracket.

For detailed tax brackets, you would usually refer to the tax tables published by SARS for the relevant year.