The South African Revenue Service (SARS) requires businesses to file regular returns and pay the right taxes on time. For small businesses, the most common obligations are VAT, PAYE/UIF/SDL, provisional tax, and annual income tax. Missing deadlines or miscalculating amounts leads to penalties and interest.
The main SARS filings
VAT201
Monthly or bi-monthly VAT return. Report output VAT, input VAT, and net VAT payable or refundable. Most vendors file via SARS eFiling.
EMP201
Monthly PAYE, UIF and SDL declaration. Employers must declare total remuneration, tax withheld, and UIF/SDL contributions.
IRP6
Provisional tax return for companies, trusts and individuals who earn non-salary income. Two returns per year plus a top-up if needed.
Tax Clearance
A SARS tax clearance certificate proves your tax affairs are in order. It is often required for tenders, government contracts and supplier onboarding.
VAT201: what you need to know
VAT-registered vendors must submit a VAT201 return for every tax period, even if no transactions occurred. The return reconciles output VAT on sales with input VAT on purchases. AccPro Lite calculates the figures from your transactions and produces an eFiling-ready VAT201 summary.
Payroll: EMP201, IRP5 and IT3(a)
Every month, employers must submit an EMP201 declaring PAYE, UIF and SDL. At year-end, employees receive IRP5 certificates and independent contractors receive IT3(a) certificates where applicable. AccPro Lite's payroll module calculates the correct amounts using the latest SARS tables and generates the required files.
How AccPro Lite helps
- Auto-calculation of VAT201, EMP201 and provisional tax figures
- Deadlines calendar synced to SARS filing periods
- eFiling-ready exports that reduce manual data entry
- Year-end IRP5 and IT3(a) generation
- Tax clearance status tracking
File SARS returns faster and more accurately
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