Chapter 1. Introduction
1.1 Scope of the Legislation and Regulations
This workbook focuses on the changes to employment-related tax and labour legislation, as well as on related administration requirements that are specified by regulation, notice or specification document. The following Acts, Bills, Regulations and Notices are discussed in this workbook.
AMENDMENTS TO LEGISLATION
The tax amendment Bills were issued on 29 July 2022 and after comments and final changes, were promulgated (signed into law by the State President) and issued as final Amendment Acts on 5 January 2023:
1. Taxation Laws Amendment Act [TLAA]
This Act deals with the substantive changes to the Income Tax Act proposed in the 2022 budget.
2. Tax Administration Laws Amendment Act [TALAA]
This Act deals with the administration-related changes proposed in the 2022 budget to the various Acts that fall under SARS.
3. Rates and Monetary Amounts and Amendment of Revenue Laws Act [Rates Act]
This Act confirms the tax tables, rebates and threshold changes proposed in the 2022 Budget.
4. Draft Revenue Laws Amendment Bill [Revenue Bill]
This Bill introduces the ‘Two-pot’ retirement system reforms (postponed for a year).
Labour Law Amendment Bills:
1. Final Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Amendment Bill [COID Bill]
2. Final Employment Equity Amendment Bill [EEA Bill].
REGULATIONS and NOTICES
1. Gazette No. 44702 Compensation Fund regulation issued on 15 June 2021.
Specifies minimum assessment amounts but it is unsigned, undated, and with no effective date.
SPECIFICATIONS
1. SARS PAYE BRS (Business Requirements Specification) version 22.0 issued on 24 February 2023.
Specifies the tax certificate fields, formats, and validation rules that payrolls must obey for 2023.
Terminology Conventions used in this Workbook
A reference to ‘he’ or ‘his’ includes ‘she’ or ‘her’ in the case of a female taxpayer, and ‘it’ or ‘its’ in the case of a taxpayer other than an individual and is not intended to be discriminatory. The following abbreviations might be used in this workbook –
• ITA Income Tax Act
• TLAA Taxation Laws Amendment Act
• TALAA Tax Administration Laws Amendment Act
• SDLA Skills Development Levies Act
• UICA Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act
• ETIA Employment Tax Incentive Act
• BCEA Basic Conditions of Employment Act
• LRA Labour Relations Act
• EEA Employment Equity Act
• UIA Unemployment Insurance Act
• COIDA Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act
• PAGSA Payroll Authors Group of South Africa