SARS: CHANGES TO THE EMPLOYER STATEMENT OF ACCOUNT

A significant step taken by SARS is that employers can now actively manage their payroll taxes (PAYE, UIF and SDL). These taxes have proved difficult to reconcile and this redesigned form is intended to simplify this process. It is important to get this right to avoid paying penalties and interest.

Businesses can now make adjustments to their account and correct misallocated payments.  Omissions and other account mistakes can be corrected (there are misallocations going back a few years) and SARS accept they will have to assist in resolving some of the queries.

With employers having the ability to make adjustments to payroll tax submissions comes increased accountability to manage their payroll taxes. It will also help SARS to streamline their workload.

There are other enhancements to the Statement of Account such as grouping of like transactions and a receipt number for payments and journals which will help employers trace these payments to their bank statements.

NOTE FOR ACCOUNTANTS: The SARS website has a good explanation here.