Support Talk Newsletter Β· Preview
2026 Budget Speech and public submission window
South Africa's National Treasury invited public submissions for the 2026 Budget. The Minister of Finance delivered the National Budget Speech on 25 February 2026.
View the official publication: 2026 Budget Tips β
Income Tax Reference Numbers β compulsory from February 2026
From February 2026, PAYE reconciliations will only be accepted if all employees required to register under section 67 of the Income Tax Act have valid Income Tax Reference Numbers. Submissions with missing or invalid numbers will be rejected.
View the SARS notice β
National minimum wage increases effective 1 March 2026
Government Gazette 54075 (3 February 2026) under the National Minimum Wage Act increases the national minimum wage and related allowances effective 1 March 2026.
Steps to update the Minimum Wage in the system β
New enhancement β TEST tax file generation
The Tax file has been enhanced to allow employers to generate a TEST tax file from the Tax Certificate Run screen without closing all payroll runs up to August or February. The TEST file includes payslip data available at the time of export, enabling earlier validation.
See the "What's New" section in the system for more information.
Annual Reconciliation Declaration (EMP501) β preparation checklist
- Finalise your February 2026 pay run and close all runs for your tax period.
- Verify company and employee information.
- Reconcile the EMP501 and EMP201 reports.
- Identify employee records with discrepancies and process corrections.
- Generate the Test CSV File from the system.
Knowledge base resources include articles on e@syFile errors, exporting reports, and how to import CSV files. Navigate: your initials β How Can We Help? β PaySpace Wisdom β Knowledge Base β FAQs β Annual Submission.
Employee logbooks β travel allowance
Employees receiving a travel allowance can claim a deduction on their annual income tax return for business use of a private motor vehicle. Remind employees to:
- Record the motor vehicle's closing odometer reading on the last day of February.
- Calculate total kilometres for the full year.
- Calculate total business kilometres for the year.
Consolidated tax file for multiple frequencies
Click here for more information β
Time and Attendance
Time and Attendance (T&A) systems record employee working hours and absences, and integrate with the payroll system by exporting approved data for upload β ensuring accurate payroll processing with minimal manual intervention.
Click here for more information β