Submit the Monthly EMP201

Goal: declare the month's PAYE, UIF, SDL and ETI to SARS.

When

Monthly, after the payroll is submitted and posted. SARS requires the EMP201 and payment by the 7th of the following month (or the preceding business day).

Steps

1. New EMP201 Submission. SA Payroll workspace → EMP201 Submission → New.
2. Set company and month.
3. Pull the figures. The submission gathers, from the month's submitted salary slips: total PAYE, total UIF (employee + employer), total SDL, and total ETI.
4. Check the ETI offset. The cash PAYE you pay over is total PAYE − total ETI (not below zero). Confirm ETI only includes eligible employees.
5. Reconcile. Compare the totals to the EMP201 Report and to the ledger (PAYE Payable, UIF and SDL balances for the month) — see Payroll Reports.
6. File and pay externally. Submitting the app document recomputes and finalises a Prepared Working Paper only. Capture the approved EMP201 on eFiling/e@syFile, pay, and attach/retain the external receipt. Generic exports, print, email and fax are not electronic submissions.

Readiness checks

The submission flags problems such as the company PAYE reference number missing, slips for the period not yet submitted, or employees missing SARS payroll codes. Clear these before treating it as final.

Keep every month

The interim EMP501 needs the six months March–August; the annual EMP501 needs all twelve months. Create and retain each monthly working paper, including nil/small months where applicable.

Next

At year-end: Year-End: IRP5 & EMP501.