CRS News Flash 16 February 2026 – SOUTH AFRICA – New SARS PAYE BRS published

FEBRUARY 2026 – SOUTH AFRICA
SARS PAYE BRS VERSION 25.0.0
It is important that employers note the following:

New SARS PAYE BRS published for the 2026/2027 year of assessment
SARS regularly updates the requirements for the generation of the PAYE (Pay As You Earn) import tax file used for interim and annual submissions. New fields have been added to prevent duplicate registrations using the ITREG (Income Tax Registration) process.

Please note that IRP5/IT3(a) and ITREG certificate records may not be combined in the same submission file. ITREG certificates must be submitted in a separate file, as the transaction year may still be open when the certificate type is ITREG.

The requirements outlined in this version of the BRS (Business Requirement Specification) are effective from 1 March 2026 for payroll suppliers and will be implemented on SARS systems in September 2026. Employers should check their payroll information to make sure all employee details are correct and up to date before the upcoming submission season.

Overview of changes:

1. New source codes:
   • Tax certificate employee information:
     • 3061 (Additional ID number).
     • 3067 (Expired asylum seeker permit number).
     • 3071 (Expired passport number).
     • 3076 (Expired passport country of issue).
     • 3081 (Country of birth).
2. Description changes:
   • Tax certificate employee information:
     • 3060 (RSA identity number of the employee).
   • Normal income codes:
     • 3620/3670 (NED Directors/Audit committee member fees).
3. Validation changes:
   • Tax certificate employee information:
     • 3040 (First two names of the employee).
     • 3100 (Income tax reference number of employee).
   • Employee remuneration information:
     • 3699 (Gross employment income – taxable).
     • 4150 (Reason for non-deduction of tax).
     • Income received:
       • Additional rule added: At least one income code with a value greater than zero must be completed, unless:
         • Code 4588 is completed, YoA >= 2026 and certificate type is IT3(a).
   • Deductions/Contributions:
     • A new validation rule has been added for codes 4042 and 4588.
   • Deduction codes:
     • 4588 (The total amount repaid by the employee in the tax year for a s11(nA) recoupment. Applicable from 2026 year of assessment).
   • Employees’ tax deduction, ETI and reason codes:
     • New reason code added.

To view the details in the new SARS PAYE BRS, follow the link.