PAYROLL TAXES S.A

•PAYE (employees' taxes)

•UIF (unemployment insurance)

•SDL (Skills development levy)

•OID (Occupational injuries and disease insurance)

PAYE

Pay-as-you-earn tax (PAYE) is a withholding tax on income payments to employees. Amounts withheld are treated as advance payments of income tax due. They are refundable to the extent they exceed tax as determined on tax returns.

Employers are required to withhold these taxes each month and pay them over to SARS on the taxpayer's behalf. They do this by consulting the SARS PAYE tables which have different tax rates for employees who are paid weekly, fortnightly or monthly. The PAYE calculated as a result is based on the employee's earnings and includes basic salaries, bonuses, fringe benefits and other allowances.

UIF

Unemployment Insurance Fund. The purpose of UIF is to provide short-term relief to workers when they become unemployed or are unable to work due to illness, maternity or adoption leave, and also to provide support to the dependants of a deceased contributor.

Both the employee and employer contribution is calculated at 1% of the leviable amount. Employers must pay contributions to either SARS or the UIF commissioner, depending on which one is applicable to the employer.

The five statutory types of unemployment benefits have been retained in the main UIF Act, namely:

• Adoption
• Dependent
• Illness
• Maternity
• Unemployment

SDL

Skills Development Levy. SDL is a levy imposed to encourage learning and development in South Africa and is determined by an employer's salary bill. The funds are to be used to develop and improve skills of employees.

The employer's contribution is calculated as 1% of leviable amount, which is equivalent to the employee's remuneration for PAYE purposes .The amounts deducted or withheld by the employer must be paid to SARS on a monthly basis,

The fund enables the state to:

• Drive key skills strategies,
• Meet the training needs of the unemployed, non-levy paying cooperatives, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), community structures and vulnerable groups,
• Promote strategic partnerships and innovation in project delivery,
• Drive change towards partnership-based programmes, and
• Contribute significantly to raising the low base of education and training in our country, guided by our government policies of redress and promoting equity.

COIDA

The Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, No 130 of 1993 (COIDA) provides for compensation for disablement caused by occupational injuries or diseases sustained or contracted by employees in the course of their employment, or for death resulting from such injuries or diseases.

Employers are required to Register, Submit & Pay annually. COID is there to safeguard workers when they are injured and to make sure that businesses support their compensation by paying their tariffs.

According to the Act, workers who suffer from a work-related disease or injury, have the following rights:

• The right to full free medical attention, including free transport to the hospital.
• Compensation for loss of income due to workplace injury or disease (temporary disability).
• Compensation for permanent loss of normal body functioning following a workplace injury or disease (permanent disability).
• Benefits payable to family in the case of the death of a worker due to workplace injury or disease.
• Increased compensation should the cause of the workplace injury or disease has arisen out of negligence on the part of the employer or fellow employee.
• Compensation is also payable if the workplace injury or disease was caused by a third party, but arose during the course of the duties of the employee.