Pretoria - A record number of 235 882 employers have filed their annual reconciliations for the 2011 Tax Season for Employers, says the South African Revenue Service (SARS).
This is compared with 212 969 employers that filed at the same time last year, SARS said on Thursday, following the end of tax season for employers on 3 June 2011.
Employer declarations were accompanied by 14 817 176 IRP5 certificates, which contain important information on employees. The certificates are used to pre-populate the income tax returns for individuals, which then need to be submitted as part of the upcoming Tax Season for Individuals.
"SARS would like to thank those employers that have made every effort to file their reconciliations on time. However, we urge those employers who have not yet filed their reconciliations to make every effort to submit their reconciliation declarations immediately as penalties apply for late submission," said SARS.
An administrative penalty equal to 10 percent on the total PAYE can be imposed on employers.
"Employers should note that the non-submission of the reconciliations has a direct impact on the ability of their employees to file their income tax returns as individual taxpayers.
"Where employers do not submit their reconciliation declarations, employees will not be issued with IRP5 certificates and will not be able to submit an income tax return This makes the Tax Season for Employers such a vital step in our annual tax cycle," said SARS.
Tax Season for Individuals (non-provisional) will run from 1 July to 25 November 2011 for taxpayers who make use of the eFiling method. For taxpayers who still submit a manual/paper income tax return via post or a drop-box at a SARS branch, the deadline is 30 September 2011.
The deadline for the electronic submission of annual returns by provisional taxpayers via eFiling is 31 January 2012.
