The following is the News flash 2022-14 published by the PAGSA regarding COID Earnings Threshold

COMPENSATION FUND EARNINGS THRESHOLD FOR THE 2022/23 YEAR OF ASSESSMENT

Each year the Compensation Fund publishes the change to the earnings threshold in a Notice signed by the Commissioner and published in a Gazette.

The threshold limits the earnings calculated by the payroll per employee from 1 March 2022 until 28 February 2023 to assist the employer to complete the annual Return of Earnings form (ROE or W.AS.8 return).

After prompting from the PAGSA and explaining the urgency, earlier this week the Fund kindly provided me with the new earnings threshold (effective from 1 March 2022) and a copy of the Return of Earnings form.

With statutory changes of this nature, I ere on the side of caution and prefer to wait for the Gazette notice. However, it seems that the Government printers are having difficulties, the notice of the increase has not yet been published in a Gazette, and it seemed pointless to delay the issue of this information any longer.

Earnings Threshold for 2022/23

Having been assured by the Fund that the information provided was correct and that I could rely on it, in the interests of getting the information to you as quickly as possible, I decided to issue this Newsflash with the details.

As can be seen from the Return of Earnings form in the appendix to this Newsflash, the earnings threshold for the 2022/23 year of assessment is R529 264, effective from 1 March 2022.

General Matters

Dates for Return of Earnings Submission by Employers

As has been the practice for a number of years, the closing date for the submission of the Return of Earnings has been postponed from a 31 March date (as specified in the COID Act) to 31 May 2022.

The Fund’s website will be opened to allow employers to submit their returns from 1 April 2022 until 31 May 2022.

Year of Assessment Terminology: COID Regulation Gazette No. 44409 – 1 April 2021
The Department in Gazette No. 44409 of 1 April 2020 (‘yes’, April Fool’s day) clarified that the year in which the starting month falls, indicates the year of assessment.

For example: the 2022 assessment year is the year starting 1st March 2022 and ending 28th February 2023.

Those of us in the tax world who are used to the naming principle that the year of assessment is indicated by the year in which the ending month falls, will simply have to get used to the naming principle in the world of labour.