Small business tax calendar: every SARS deadline a South African business faces

A small business rarely fails on the big things. It fails on the 7th of the month, three months in a row, because nobody was watching a date that felt administrative until the penalties arrived.

The monthly obligation

Date	What	Who
7th of each month	EMP201 - declare and pay PAYE, UIF and SDL	Any employer with employees
7th of each month	UIF monthly declaration	Any registered employer

PAYE, UIF and SDL are declared on one form, the EMP201, and the payment must accompany it. The 7th is not a soft deadline: a 10% late payment penalty applies, interest runs on top, and a separate penalty applies where the return itself is outstanding.

VAT, depending on your category

VAT returns are due on the last business day of the month following the end of the tax period. Which period you are on depends on your category:

Category	Period	Return due
A (most small vendors)	Two months, ending on odd months	Last business day of the following month
B	Two months, ending on even months	Last business day of the following month
C (larger vendors)	Monthly	Last business day of the following month

The return and the payment share a deadline. A return submitted without payment attracts penalties and interest on the outstanding amount.

The twice-yearly reconciliation

• 31 October - interim EMP501. Reconciling the first six months of the payroll year, and issuing the interim tax certificates.
• 31 May - annual EMP501. The full-year reconciliation against every IRP5 and IT3(a) you issued.

The reconciliation is what validates your employees’ tax certificates. Get it wrong and your staff discover the consequences on their own returns, usually in a year when they are trying to buy a house.

Company income tax

An ITR14 is due within twelve months of the company’s financial year end. It is a separate obligation from CIPC’s annual return - a company can be fully compliant with CIPC and years behind on its ITR14, and the two are checked by different systems.

Provisional tax runs alongside: a company submits IRP6 returns at the same August and February dates as individuals, and the provisional tax guide has those dates.

A calendar that actually works

The business tax year at a glance

🖨 Print this checklist

The business tax year at a glance: tick each item as you complete it

• 7th of every month - EMP201 (PAYE, UIF, SDL)
• Last business day of the month after your VAT period - VAT return and payment
• 31 August - first provisional tax return (IRP6)
• 30 September - voluntary third provisional payment
• 31 October - interim EMP501 reconciliation
• 26 February - second provisional tax return (IRP6)
• 31 May - annual EMP501 reconciliation
• Within 12 months of financial year end - ITR14 company return

Ticks are not saved and are not sent anywhere. Nothing you do on this page leaves your device.

Keeping it manageable

Three habits make the difference between a calendar and a crisis:

1. Bank the tax when you bank the income. PAYE and VAT are not your money. Moving the amount to a separate account as it accrues means the 7th is a transfer, not a scramble.
2. Do the reconciliation continuously. A monthly payroll that balances to the EMP201 makes the EMP501 a formality. A year of drift makes it a project.
3. Keep CIPC and SARS dates in the same place. The CIPC annual return guide covers the company registry side, and the two deadlines have nothing to do with each other.

If you are unsure whether VAT registration applies to you at all, the VAT registration guide covers the thresholds, and the VAT calculator will add or remove VAT from a price when you are quoting.

Last reviewed 13 October 2026. Due dates are set by the Tax Administration Act and SARS practice; confirm the current dates on the SARS businesses and employers page.