An IRP5 is the employee tax certificate that every South African employer must issue to each employee after the end of the tax year. It summarises the employee's total remuneration, tax deductions, and other payroll items, and it is used by the employee to complete their personal income tax return.
What does an IRP5 show?
The IRP5 certificate is divided into source codes. Each code represents a specific type of income or deduction. Here are the most common ones:
| Code | Description | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 3601 | Salary / wages | Gross taxable remuneration before deductions. |
| 3605 | Overtime | Taxable overtime pay. |
| 3701 | Commission | Commission income. |
| 3802 | Taxable fringe benefits | Benefits such as company car use or medical aid contributions. |
| 4102 | PAYE deducted | Employees' tax withheld and paid over to SARS. |
| 4141 | UIF contributions | Total UIF deducted from the employee. |
| 4142 | SDL contributions | Skills Development Levy deducted from the employee, if applicable. |
| 4118 | Retirement fund contributions | Pension or provident fund contributions by the employee. |
| 4005 | Medical aid contributions | Employee medical scheme contributions. |
How to reconcile IRP5s with EMP201s
The monthly EMP201 is the employer's declaration of PAYE, UIF, and SDL. At year-end, the totals declared on EMP201s must match the totals on the IRP5 certificates issued to employees. AccPro Lite's payroll module generates both the EMP201 and IRP5 reports from the same data, so they stay in sync.
- 1Check that the IRP5 total remuneration matches the payroll records for the tax year.
- 2Confirm that PAYE (4102) equals the total EMP201 PAYE for the same employee.
- 3Verify UIF (4141) and SDL (4142) totals against the monthly EMP201 submissions.
- 4Check that medical aid, retirement, and fringe benefit codes match the payroll reports.
- 5Issue the IRP5 to the employee before the SARS deadline and submit the EMP501 reconciliation.
When are IRP5s due?
Employers must issue IRP5 certificates to employees by the end of May each year. The annual EMP501 reconciliation — which includes the employer's IRP5 totals — must be submitted to SARS by the end of May as well.
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