South African compliance calendar
Every recurring SARS, CIPC, Employment and Labour and SETA deadline in one place, filtered to the ones that actually apply to your business, and exportable to the calendar you already use.
Reviewed
- Deadlines tracked
- 18
- Authorities covered
- 4
- To use and subscribe
- Free
Build your own compliance calendar
Tell us how your company is set up and we will work out the actual dates for the next twelve months: EMP201, VAT201, IRP6, EMP501, ITR14 and your CIPC annual return window, adjusted for weekends and South African public holidays. It runs in your browser, so nothing is submitted.
Your next 12 months
Dates are calculated from the rules that applied at the last review and adjusted for weekends and South African public holidays. Items marked date announced yearly depend on an authority publishing the exact day. This is general guidance, not tax advice. Confirm against your own SARS and CIPC correspondence.
Every deadline, explained
The complete set of recurring obligations across SARS, CIPC, Employment and Labour and the SETAs, with what each one is for. Filter it to your situation or search for a specific return.
Every month
Recurring obligations that come round on a monthly cycle.
- SARS EMP201
Monthly employer declaration
Within 7 days after month end
Declares and pays PAYE, UIF and SDL withheld from the previous month’s payroll. Where the 7th falls on a weekend or public holiday, the deadline moves back to the last business day before it.
How we handle this → - Employment & Labour UI-19
UIF employee declaration
By the 7th of each month
Monthly declaration of employees, earnings and any starters or leavers to the Department of Employment and Labour, usually filed through uFiling. Separate from the UIF paid over on the EMP201.
How we handle this → - SARS VAT201
VAT return and payment
Last business day of the month (eFiling)
Filing frequency depends on your VAT category: Category C files monthly, Categories A and B file every two months on alternating cycles, and Categories D and E file less frequently. eFiling filers who pay by debit order have until the last business day; manual filers are due by the 25th.
How we handle this → - SARS DTR01 / DTR02
Dividends tax return and payment
By the end of the month following the dividend payment
Applies only in months where a dividend is declared and paid. The declaring company or regulated intermediary submits the return and pays the tax withheld.
How we handle this →
Through the tax year
Deadlines that land in the same month each year, shown from March to February so they follow the South African tax year. Exact dates shift for weekends and public holidays.
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- SETA WSP/ATR Date announced yearly
Workplace Skills Plan and Annual Training Report
Usually 30 April
Employers registered for Skills Development Levy submit a WSP and ATR to their SETA to remain eligible for mandatory grant refunds. Requirements and portals differ by SETA.
How we handle this → - Employment & Labour W.As.8 Date announced yearly
Return of Earnings
Submission window usually opens 1 April
Annual declaration of employee earnings to the Compensation Fund, which sets the COIDA assessment. The closing date has been extended in several past years, so confirm the current deadline before relying on it.
How we handle this →
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- SARS EMP501 Date announced yearly
Employer annual reconciliation
Filing window usually April to end May
Reconciles the full tax year, 1 March to the end of February, against EMP201 declarations and payments, and issues employee IRP5/IT3(a) certificates. SARS announces the exact window each year.
How we handle this →
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- SARS IRP6
First provisional tax payment
End of the sixth month of the year of assessment
For taxpayers with a February year-end this falls at the end of August. Based on an estimate of taxable income for the full year, so the estimate itself carries penalty risk if it is materially understated.
How we handle this →
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- SARS IRP6
Third (voluntary top-up) provisional payment
Six months after year end (end September for February year-ends)
Optional payment to close any shortfall before interest starts running. Worth doing where the first two estimates fell short of actual taxable income.
How we handle this →
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- SARS EMP501 Date announced yearly
Employer interim reconciliation
Filing window usually September to end October
Covers the first six months of the tax year, 1 March to 31 August. This is the interim reconciliation, the full-year one falls in the April to May window.
How we handle this → - SARS ITR12 Date announced yearly
Personal income tax return
Filing season, usually July to October
SARS announces filing season dates each year, with different closing dates for auto-assessed taxpayers, non-provisional taxpayers and provisional taxpayers.
How we handle this →
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- SARS IRP6
Second provisional tax payment
Last day of the year of assessment
For February year-ends this falls on the last day of February. The second estimate is held to a tighter accuracy standard than the first, so the underestimation penalty risk is higher.
How we handle this →
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Driven by your own dates
These follow your financial year end or incorporation anniversary, so no two companies share them. They cannot be added to a shared calendar. We set them per client.
- CIPC
CIPC annual return
Within 30 business days of the incorporation anniversary
A corporate-registry filing that confirms the company still exists and its details are current. It is not a tax return, and persistent non-filing can expose a company to deregistration.
How we handle this → - CIPC
Beneficial ownership declaration
Filed together with the annual return
Declares the natural persons who ultimately own or control the company, with supporting records. CIPC has linked this to annual-return compliance.
How we handle this → - SARS ITR14
Company income tax return
Within 12 months of the company’s financial year end
Annual income tax return for the company. The due date follows your own year-end, so two companies rarely share the same ITR14 deadline.
How we handle this → - CIPC
Annual financial statements
Within six months of financial year end
Companies must prepare annual financial statements within six months of year end. Whether they must be audited, independently reviewed or only compiled depends on the company’s public interest score and its Memorandum of Incorporation.
How we handle this → - CIPC
B-BBEE affidavit or certificate renewal
Annually, aligned to your financial year end
Exempted Micro Enterprises and qualifying Small Enterprises can use a sworn affidavit; larger entities require verification. Renewal timing follows your own financial year, not a national date.
How we handle this → - SARS
Tax Compliance Status renewal
Before tenders, contracts or funding applications
A TCS PIN lets a third party verify your status in real time. It is not a once-off: your status changes the moment a return or payment falls behind.
How we handle this →
No deadlines match those filters. to see the full calendar.
Get compliance reminders, free
A short email before the deadlines that apply to you, plus a note when SARS or CIPC changes a date or a process. No sales sequence.
- Reminders ahead of the deadlines you choose
- Alerts when a filing window or requirement actually changes
- Unsubscribe from any email. We do not sell or share your details
How to read these dates
Where a deadline falls on a weekend or public holiday it generally moves to the preceding business day for payments and the following business day for some filings. Items marked date announced yearly are set by the authority each year, so the month is reliable but the exact day is not until it is published.
What this tool is not
This calendar is general guidance, not tax advice, and it does not replace your own SARS correspondence. Your ITR14, CIPC annual return and financial statement deadlines follow your own year end and incorporation date, so confirm them against your records before relying on any date here.
Rather have us run it
Most clients stop tracking deadlines themselves. We maintain the calendar per entity, prepare the returns and file them, so the obligation is met rather than merely diarised. Start with a business compliance review or call +27 87 078 2478.