SA | SARS PAYE BRS Changes for the 2025/2026 Tax Year

SARS has released version 24.0.0 of the PAYE Business Requirements Specification (BRS), which outlines the rules for generating tax certificates and reconciliations. The updated BRS applies to all employers submitting PAYE returns for the 2025/2026 tax year. Below is a summary of the key legislative changes impacting payroll:

New Source Code for Antedated Salary/Pension

• A new source code, 3623 (or 3673 for foreign services income), has been introduced to report antedated salary/pension amounts relating to previous tax years.
• A tax directive must be obtained to calculate an employee’s correct tax deduction.
• Related directive fields have been updated:
  • 3230: Directive Number
  • 3232: Directive Income Source Code
• Code 3907 has been amended to clarify that it may only be used for amounts relating to tax years up to and including 2024/2025.
• From 2025/2026 onwards, code 3623 must be used for any antedated salary/pension relating to prior tax years. The tax, according to the tax directive, must be reported against code 4102.
• Antedated salary relating to the current tax year must still be reported under 3601 (taxed through the payroll, no tax directive required).

New Codes for Section 11(nA) and 11(nB) Repayments

To improve tax reporting for repayments under sections 11(nA) and 11(nB) of the Income Tax Act, SARS has introduced the following new codes:

• Code 4042: Reflects the allowable tax deduction where an s11(nA) refund has been processed via payroll. SARS uses this during tax validations (e.g. EMP501 submissions).
• Code 4588: Reports the total amount repaid by the employee during the tax year for an s11(nA) recoupment. This replaces the need for a repayment confirmation letter when claiming the deduction in the employee’s personal tax return. If the repayment is not processed in payroll, it must still be reflected on the employee’s tax certificate as an information code.
• Code 4589: Reports the total amount repaid by the employee for an s11(nB) recoupment, typically relating to restraint of trade. As with 4588, if processed outside payroll, the amount must still be disclosed on the tax certificate.

Click here to access the official SARS PAYE BRS version 24.0.0.