SARS is currently in a dispute over its 2022 wage negotiations process and has sent a letter to business associates informing them of the situation. There is a possibility of a strike, but SARS has prepared contingency measures to ensure service delivery is not affected. Please refer to the attached letter for more information.

Disclaimer: All information provided by PAGSA is subject to our disclaimer. For more information, please visit https://www.pagsa.org.za/2023/06/10/nf-2022-25-sars-wage-negotiations-dispute/.

PAGSA Newsflash 2022-03 previously discussed the simpler changes made by the 2021 tax amendment Acts, but there are two complicated amendments that require further clarification. These amendments include the extension to the reduction of the value of the ‘long services award’ and the amendments to the ETI Act’s definition of “monthly remuneration”. Unfortunately, there are currently no answers to these issues as they arose from late changes made by the Standing Committee of Finance to the final Taxation Laws Amendment Bill. Discussions with the authorities have been ongoing, and SARS is working to clarify the uncertainties and provide solutions to implementation problems. PAGSA hopes to have clarity by the end of this week and will issue Newsflashes immediately to update readers. We apologize for any pressure this may place on readers and their development teams. For more information, please visit https://www.pagsa.org.za/2023/06/10/nf-2022-09-final-tax-changes-pending-clarification/.

PAGSA Annual General Meeting 2022

The PAGSA Annual General Meeting (AGM) for 2022 will be held on 13 June from 09h00. Due to current circumstances, the meeting will be conducted via Zoom. The PAGSA will handle all arrangements for the meeting, as they have done in the past for face-to-face AGMs. Invitations will be sent out a few days before the meeting, but it is advised to mark the date in your calendar.

Changes to the voting process for Exco members will be implemented to accommodate the virtual meeting. Details of the new procedures will be included in the formal notice pack. It is important to note that all current Exco members have confirmed their availability to serve another term.

The AGM will be split into two separate sessions, each with its own Zoom invitation. The first session, the AGM Formal Session, will take place from 09h00 to 10h30 and is exclusively for payroll supplier members. There will be a 30-minute break between sessions to allow attendees to attend to emails, grab refreshments, etc.

The second session, the Information Session, will be held from 11h00 to 12h30. This session is open to payroll supplier members, associate members, and representatives from the South African Revenue Service (SARS). SARS has graciously agreed to have some of their senior personnel attend this session.

The Information Session will cover the following topics:
1. PAGSA: PAYE Fixed-rate Calculation issues (currently under discussion)
2. SARS: Keynote address by Mark Kingon, providing updates and insights from a payroll and employer perspective.

SARS welcomes input from PAGSA members attending the Information Session and encourages feedback on SARS issues. Mark Kingon will be available to address any questions or concerns from attendees. This is an opportunity for members to engage with SARS and provide valuable feedback to improve their services and products.

Formal AGM notices will be sent out as soon as possible, but there are no proposed changes to the PAGSA constitution at this time.

Please note that all information provided by PAGSA is subject to their DISCLAIMER.

Regards,
Rob Cooper
Chairman, Payroll Authors Group of South Africa

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has confirmed that members of the Public Servants Association (PSA) and National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU) have resumed their strike action, which was temporarily suspended in May. The unions are demanding a wage increase of CPI plus 7%, which SARS has said is unaffordable until it receives further funding. SARS has communicated that it does not decide on its own funding but is dependent on an annual allocation made through a process managed by National Treasury. The strike is expected to continue until SARS improves its wage offer.
SARS has put business continuity plans and other contingencies in place to continue to deliver essential services to taxpayers. While some branches have had to close due to absence of workers, taxpayers have continued to interact with the organization through online services. SARS has rescheduled most of the appointments that were scheduled before the strike started. Taxpayers are encouraged to avoid coming to a SARS office and to utilize the website for updates on how to engage with SARS to fulfill their required obligations.
SARS will always respect the constitutionally protected right of workers to strike within the strict provisions of the law, whilst at the same time fulfilling its legal mandate and serving taxpayers and traders. The “no work, no pay” rule will apply for those employees participating in the industrial action. SARS appeals to labor to remain peaceful in their protest and to respect picketing rules as specified in the CCMA Picketing Rules issued.
SARS has demonstrated transparency in its financial position and willingness to engage the union leadership on ending the impasse. SARS has done everything in its power and within the available funding to extend the offer to trade unions, which remains available. SARS remains willing to continue engagements with the trade unions on the offer as well as the broader Employee Value Proposition.
For more information, please contact [email protected] or visit https://www.pagsa.org.za/2023/06/10/nf-2022-33-sars-notice-services-during-strike/.

SARS is experiencing a system issue with the pre-population of EMP201 declared liabilities on the EMP501 return, causing an error (ERROR 0001) when attempting to submit the completed EMP501. Despite monthly EMP201 returns being submitted, the system does not pre-populate the EMP201 figures to the EMP501 return, resulting in the error. SARS has confirmed that this issue will be fixed before Monday next week. If you are experiencing this error, please refrain from submitting until the issue is resolved. For more information, visit https://www.pagsa.org.za/2023/06/10/nf-2022-41-sars-emp501-reconciliation-submission-issue/.

The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) recently announced that manual UI-19 forms would no longer be accepted by labour centers in Gauteng from 1 October 2022. The Payroll Authors Group of South Africa (PAGSA) immediately notified the Fund of the extensive difficulties, uncertainty, and confusion experienced by payroll suppliers and employers resulting from the discontinuation notice, and also pointed out the lack of a credible alternative solution. After discussions with the Fund, the UI-19 discontinuation notice has been withdrawn with effect from 21 October 2022.

PAGSA requested the revival of technical discussions that took place during 2016 and 2017 to update the E03 declaration specification that payrolls must obey when creating the monthly declaration file with a view to modernising the requirements as well as providing the additional employee data that the Fund needs in order to fulfil its legal mandate. They also requested the creation of a practical and credible solution to replace the UIF E-Compliance Certificate online system that was introduced towards the end of January 2021.

The E-CC system was withdrawn during a discussion with the PAGSA and other parties on 11 April 2022, after the submission of a report detailing the weaknesses of the system and the resulting negative impact on business and the economy in general. The PAGSA will provide updates as more information becomes available.

The UIF apologises to clients, employers, and stakeholders for any inconvenience caused by the circular and assures clients that it will continue accepting the submission of manual UI-19 forms at all labour centres. Clients are also encouraged to visit https://ufiling.labour.gov.za/uif/ to submit their Unemployment, Illness, Maternity, and Adoption benefit claims. Employers can also use uFiling to declare their workers, including foreign employees, and pay monthly contributions.

If and when the Fund considers going fully paperless, the decision will be communicated by the UIF Commissioner, Teboho Maruping, after thorough consultations with clients, employers, and critical stakeholders. The Fund remains committed to rendering excellent services.

For more information, visit https://www.pagsa.org.za/2023/06/10/nf-2022-47-uif-notice-retraction-of-manual-ui-19-discontinuation/.

NOTICE ENDS.

Annexure: Unemployment Insurance Act Section 56 requires every employer to provide the Commissioner with information regarding its employees, including the names, identification numbers, and monthly remuneration of each employee, and the address at which the employee is employed. Employers must provide this information before the seventh day of each month.

SARS has released an update for e@syFile Employer, version 7.2.9, which includes several changes. The Full Resubmission Request process has been adjusted to prevent interruptions and allow users to proceed. A new EMP501 Form has been added to capture the reason for Over/Understatement of Declaration. Manual capture validation has been adjusted to align with import and pre-submission validation. Additionally, the Message Type displayed for ETV Letters in the Notification Centre has been corrected to PAYE_VAL_FAIL_LETTER. For more information, please visit https://www.pagsa.org.za/2023/06/10/nf-2022-44-sars-notice-esyfile-update/.

Disclaimer: All information provided by PAGSA is subject to our DISCLAIMER.

The President of South Africa has declared Tuesday, December 27, 2022, as a public holiday in place of Christmas Day, which falls on a Sunday. This announcement can be found on the official website of the Presidency of South Africa. South Africans can enjoy a day off on this public holiday, as per the Public Holidays Act No. 36 of 1994. For more information, please visit https://www.pagsa.org.za/2023/06/10/nf-2022-50-public-holiday-27-december-2022/.

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has released a notice regarding the 2022 Employer Annual Filing Season. The season will begin on April 1, 2022, and end on May 31, 2022. Employers must submit all reconciliation-related documents, including the EMP501 and tax certificates, for the period of March 1, 2021, to February 28, 2022. It is important to submit your Annual Reconciliation by May 31, 2022. To access the notice, click on the following link: https://www.sars.gov.za/latest-news/paye-annual-reconciliation-2022-starts-1-april/. For more information, please visit https://www.pagsa.org.za/2023/06/10/nf-2022-17-employer-filing-season-year-ending-feb-2022/.

Regards,
Rhona van Taak
Admin Manager Payroll Authors Group of South Africa
All information provided by the PAGSA is subject to our DISCLAIMER.

SARS has announced the opening of the employer filing season for the interim period ending August 2022. The season will run from September 19th to October 31st, 2022. It is important to note that late submissions will incur a penalty of 1% of the year’s PAYE liability, increasing by 1% for each month outstanding, up to a maximum of 10%. For more information, please refer to the SARS notice provided below.

For further details, please visit https://www.pagsa.org.za/2023/06/10/nf-2022-40-sars-notice-employer-filing-season-opens-19-sept-2022/.