Paying SARS by EFT with the right reference
How a South African business pays SARS by EFT or eFiling so the money reaches the right tax type and period, and how to match it in the books.
By Achekam · · 5 min read · For Running a business businesses in South Africa
A business pays its VAT in full and on time. A month later SARS's statement shows the VAT account still in arrears, and a credit sitting somewhere else entirely. The money arrived; it just arrived in the wrong place, because the payment went to the wrong beneficiary or carried the wrong reference.
SARS receives payments for many different taxes, and it relies on two things to put each rand where it belongs: the beneficiary you choose at your bank, and the payment reference number you quote. Get either wrong and you can be both paid up and in arrears at the same time. This article explains how to get them right, how eFiling payments differ, and how to match the payment in your books afterwards.
Choose the public beneficiary for the tax type
SARS's payment rules say EFT payments are made to the relevant SARS public beneficiary listed on the bank's platform, such as SARS-VAT, SARS-PAYE or SARS-PROV. These are pre-loaded beneficiaries on your bank's system; you select the one that matches the tax you are paying rather than typing in an account number.
So the first decision on every payment is the tax type:
| Paying | Beneficiary to choose |
|---|---|
| VAT | SARS-VAT |
| PAYE, and with it UIF and SDL | SARS-PAYE |
| Provisional tax | SARS-PROV |
The UIF and SDL row surprises some employers. SARS's payment rules note that UIF and SDL are paid to the PAYE account using the PAYE reference number. So an employer's UIF and SDL travel with its PAYE, to the PAYE beneficiary, under the PAYE reference.
SARS's guide to its payment rules lists the beneficiaries, the reference rules, the eFiling payment process and how SARS allocates payments, and it is worth bookmarking for whoever releases payments in the business.
The 19-digit payment reference number
The beneficiary gets the money to the right tax type. The reference gets it to the right return. SARS's payment rules say a payment is only accepted if the correct 19-digit payment reference number (PRN) is used.
Each return generates its own PRN:
- VAT. SARS's guide to the VAT201 says each VAT201 return carries its own unique 19-digit PRN, pre-populated by SARS, which must be used when paying so that the payment is linked to that return.
- PAYE. SARS says a payment cannot be made without first submitting the EMP201, and the 19-digit PRN generated with that EMP201 must be used for the payment.
The pattern is the same for both: submit the return first, take the PRN it generates, and quote that PRN on the payment. Reusing last month's PRN, or a PRN copied from an old remittance, can link the money to last month's return instead of this one. How the EMP201 timetable works around this is set out in EMP201 deadlines and late-payment penalties; the VAT dates are covered in the VAT201 due date.
Paying through eFiling instead
The alternative to a bank EFT is to pay from within eFiling. SARS's payment rules say eFiling payments must be authorised by the payer on their banking product before they take effect, and that they are irrevocable once approved.
Two practical points follow. First, an eFiling payment you have initiated is not a payment until someone authorises it in the banking app or online banking; a payment left waiting for authorisation has not reached SARS. Second, once approved it cannot be called back, so check the amount and the return before you approve.
SARS also notes that certain banks cannot process eFiling payments over R5 million, which means a large payment may have to be split into several.
What happens to an unreferenced payment
When the reference is wrong or missing, SARS has to decide where the money goes. Its payment rules say unreferenced or partial payments may be allocated to the oldest debt first, on a first-in-first-out basis.
That is how the opening scenario happens. A current VAT payment without a usable PRN can be applied to an older debt, possibly on a different period, leaving the current return showing as unpaid. Fixing it afterwards means a conversation with SARS. Preventing it means checking the beneficiary and the PRN before every release.
A pre-release checklist:
- Has the return for this period been submitted?
- Is the PRN on the payment the one generated by that return?
- Is the beneficiary the right one for the tax type?
- Is the amount the amount on the return?
- For eFiling payments, has someone been asked to authorise it on the bank's side?
Matching the payment in Achekam
For payroll, Achekam prepares the monthly EMP201 from approved pay runs and you download it as a PDF; the person who files it on SARS eFiling records the reference. The payment itself is made at your bank or through eFiling.
When the payment appears on the bank statement, it needs to be matched in the books. In Achekam, bank lines are matched by suggestion and a person accepts each match. A bank line that is not yet in the books becomes a suggested journal that a person approves. A bank reconciliation completes only when no difference remains or every leftover line has been explained.
If a SARS payment was posted to the wrong liability account, for example VAT recorded as PAYE, correct it with a journal. A business can post manual journals, but an unbalanced journal, or one dated in a closed month, is refused, and a posted journal is corrected only by a reversal. That keeps a clear trail of what was originally recorded and what changed. Once the money has gone, the date it reaches SARS matters as much as the reference; see when a SARS payment counts as on time.
Two checks on every payment
Beneficiary for the tax, PRN for the return: make those the two things the person releasing a SARS payment checks every time, and record the PRN beside the payment in your books. It takes seconds, and it saves the far longer exercise of persuading SARS to move money you have already paid.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
