SARS 2026 Employer Annual Reconciliation Period and Mandatory TRNs

Posted 02 April 2026 Written by Acts Online
Category Tax

Brought to you by SA Accounting Academy: The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has confirmed the dates for the 2026 Employer Annual Reconciliation period and introduced a mandatory requirement for valid employee Income Tax Reference Numbers.

In terms of the Income Tax Act, No. 58 of 1962, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has scheduled the Employer Annual Declaration (EMP501) submission period to run from 1 April 2026 until 31 May 2026. This reconciliation covers the full tax year from 1 March 2025 to 28 February 2026.

Employers are required to provide accurate and up-to-date payroll information, including the total tax deducted from employees. A significant enforcement change for the 2026 season is that SARS will no longer accept EMP501 submissions that lack valid Income Tax Reference Numbers (TRNs) for any employee. Missing or invalid TRNs will prevent tax certificates from being captured and result in incomplete submissions, leading to non-compliance penalties.

Compliance Requirements and Prerequisites

Before attempting to submit the annual EMP501, employers must ensure the following administrative steps are completed:

  • Submit all outstanding monthly declarations (EMP201) for the 2025/2026 tax year.
  • Finalise and submit any outstanding annual reconciliations from prior periods.
  • Settle all outstanding payments due to SARS to mitigate the risk of submission rejection, penalties, and interest charges.
  • Verify all employee details and register any unregistered employees for income tax well in advance of the April deadline.

Employers must issue employee tax certificates (IRP5/IT3[a]) accurately and timeously. Failure to do so, or the submission of incorrect reconciliation data, constitutes non-compliance and may lead to enforcement action and disruption of employees’ personal tax assessments.

For further technical details on PAYE requirements, visit the official SARS page: https://www.sars.gov.za/types-of-tax/pay-as-you-earn/

What this means for you, your business, or your clients

  • For yourself: Verify that your own Income Tax Reference Number is correctly recorded in your practice’s payroll system to ensure your personal IRP5 is correctly generated and pre-populated by SARS for your own tax return.
  • For your business: Conduct a payroll data-cleansing exercise before March 2026 to identify any employees without valid TRNs and use the SARS eFiling individual registration tools to ensure 100% compliance before the filing window opens.
  • For your clients: Advise clients that the previous leniency for missing TRNs has ended; they must secure tax numbers for all staff or face a total block on their EMP501 submission, which will trigger automatic late-filing penalties.

Originally published at https://accountingacademy.co.za/news/read/sars-2026-employer-annual-reconciliation-period

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