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Preparing the September 2026 Employer Interim Reconciliation
- 30 September 2026
- Payroll
- The Tax Faculty
The EMP501 interim reconciliation, payroll data, system preparation and employee income-tax numbers for September 2026.
At a glance
|
Item |
Requirement |
|
Submission window |
21 September to 31 October 2026 |
|
Reconciliation period |
1 March to 31 August 2026 |
|
Return |
EMP501 |
|
Channels |
eFiling or e@syFile Employer; employers with fewer than 50 employees may use eFiling |
|
Business Requirements Specification |
SARS_PAYE_BRS – PAYE Employer Reconciliation V25.3.0, submission period 2026-08 |
|
Employee income-tax numbers |
Mandatory; missing or invalid numbers may delay processing or cause rejection |
The September 2026 employer interim reconciliation covers the first six months of the reconciliation year, with the EMP501 due by 31 October 2026. The practical work is to reconcile declarations, payments and employee certificates, while addressing system validations and employee tax-number requirements.
The underlying reconciliation obligation continues. The changes for 2026 concern software, the Business Requirements Specification and validation support. Employers therefore need both an accurate reconciliation and data capable of passing the submission requirements.
The three parts of the reconciliation
The period covered is 1 March to 31 August 2026. The EMP501 must reflect reconciled pay-as-you-earn (PAYE), Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) and Skills Development Levy (SDL) values, actual payments, and accurate payroll and employee information.
|
Component |
Reconciliation requirement |
|
PAYE, UIF and SDL declarations |
Reconcile to previously submitted EMP201 returns; correct prepopulated figures where they differ from the correct interim certificate amounts |
|
Payments |
Reflect actual payments made during the period, excluding penalties and interest |
|
Payroll and certificates |
Include accurate employee information, tax reference numbers and IRP5/IT3(a) certificates for the six-month period |
The exclusion of penalties and interest is material. A payment record containing those amounts cannot simply be treated as the amount to insert for the reconciliation of the payroll taxes and contributions. Likewise, prepopulation is a starting point for reconciliation and does not remove the need to correct a difference identified against the supporting information.
Employers with fewer than 50 employees may use eFiling. The threshold is fewer than 50, not 50 or fewer. The alternative channel is e@syFile Employer.
Practice point: For employers preparing the EMP501, reconcile the declarations, payment records and certificate data together. Identify differences before submission and retain the basis for corrected figures.
System preparation for the submission period
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) planned a mid-September 2026 release of an updated e@syFile Employer version. Employers should confirm the release status and download the latest version once formally released. A planned release date is not sufficient confirmation that the installed software is current.
The applicable Business Requirements Specification is SARS_PAYE_BRS – PAYE Employer Reconciliation V25.3.0 for submission period 2026-08. The changes include a new ITREG source code intended to help mitigate duplicate employee income-tax registrations, together with minor changes to source-code validations and descriptions.
Payroll teams should review the specification before preparing the submission. The detailed code and validation requirements must be checked against the applicable version, including where the submission is prepared by an external provider.
Practice point: Where a payroll provider prepares the submission, confirm that it has addressed the applicable specification and validation changes. Check the software version actually used and retain the reconciliation supporting the file.
Employee income-tax numbers are mandatory
Valid employee income-tax numbers have been strictly enforced in e@syFile Employer and eFiling since the February 2026 employer filing season. The requirement remains mandatory. Missing or invalid numbers may delay processing and may result in rejection of the EMP501.
|
Person obtaining or retrieving a number |
Available routes |
|
Employer |
ITREG/BundleReg on eFiling or e@syFile; Tax Reference Number Enquiry Service on eFiling; a SARS Service Centre by appointment |
|
Employee |
Registration or retrieval through the Individuals section of the SARS website |
Duplicate-registration controls make it important to distinguish retrieval of an existing number from a fresh registration. An absent number in the employer's payroll record does not necessarily mean that the employee has never registered.
Practice point: Identify missing and invalid employee numbers before the reconciliation deadline and use the retrieval or registration routes described. Treat the tax-number review as part of preparing a complete submission.
Practitioner action checklist
|
Client or issue |
Action flowing from the article |
Timing |
|
All employer reconciliations covered |
Reconcile 1 March–31 August declarations, payments and certificates |
Before 31 October 2026 submission |
|
Payment differences |
Exclude penalties and interest from the relevant payment values |
During reconciliation |
|
e@syFile and payroll systems |
Review release status and BRS V25.3.0 requirements |
Before preparing the file |
|
Missing employee numbers |
Retrieve or register through the stated channels |
Before submission |
The reporting obligation and the submission controls operate together. Correct totals will not resolve invalid employee identifiers, and valid identifiers will not cure unreconciled payroll values. Both require attention within the 21 September to 31 October 2026 submission window.