JANUARY 2026 – SOUTH AFRICA
INCOME TAX NUMBERS FOR 2026 FILING
It is important that employers note the following:
Mandatory income tax numbers required for 2026 employer filing season
Effective February 2026, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) will no longer accept PAYE reconciliations unless all employees who are required to be registered have valid income tax reference numbers.
This marks the end of the grace period in which missing tax numbers would only trigger a warning in e@syFile™. Starting this filing season, reconciliations missing valid tax numbers will be rejected and non-compliant employers may face penalties.
Employers should start validating and registering employees as soon as possible.
Ways to register employees:
- e@syFile™ – Individual (ITREG) or bulk registration (BundleReg)
- eFiling – Submit up to 200 employees at once
- TRN enquiry service – Verify or request tax numbers via eFiling
- Manual registration – SARS branch (by appointment)
Employees can self-register using:
- eFiling – Online registration
- SOQS – SARS Online Query System
- WhatsApp – Message “Hi” to 0800 11 7277
- USSD – Dial 1347277#
SARS has issued formal communication to taxpayers regarding this change. The letter can be viewed here.
