Looking for When should IRP5 be issued? Your employer should issue you an IRP5 after the end of the tax year. If, however, you don’t receive an IRP5 and no amount of pleading with them will help, don’t give up on completing your tax return.

There are a few reasons why some people may find themselves without their IRP5, as well as what you can do about it:

FAQs

Have a question? Check out our FAQs, as this may be the simplest and quickest way to resolve your query.

What is an IRP5?

An IRP5 is the employee’s tax certificate that is issued to him/her at the end of each tax year, detailing all employer/employee related incomes, deductions, and related taxes. The employee uses it specifically to complete his/her income tax return for a specific year.

Do I need an IRP5?

Yes, you do if you were employed during the tax year. It is your employer’s responsibility to provide you with an IRP5 each year.

What if I’m no longer employed by the company I need my IRP5 from?

Even if you no longer work for a previous company, they should still give you an IRP5 in June of the year you’re submitting the tax return for. If they haven’t given you one, you need to contact them to get it.

SARS needs an IRP5 which I never received – what must I do?

If SARS asks for this (but you really don’t have it), go to the police station and swear an affidavit stating that you’re unable to retrieve your IRP5. Take this with you into a SARS office, where they will submit your return for you. You can also upload this onto eFiling.

Can I submit a return without an IRP5?

Yes you can, however SARS might request that you send them your IRP5 if they decide to review your tax return.

Can I find my IRP5 form online?

You can check on your SARS eFiling profile to see if your IRP5 has been submitted to SARS (this should have been done by your employer). Simply request your Tax Return and it will hopefully already be populated with your IRP5 details.

Is there an expiry date of IRP5?

Your IRP5 can never expire, as it’s just a summary of all your payslips for the working year.

Is the number on my IRP5 a valid tax number or should I register?

There may be a number on your IRP5 beginning with a 0,1,2, or 3 – that is your ten-digit reference number.

When is the right time to submit my IRP5?

You should file your return as soon as the tax season has opened for that tax year. Tax season normaly runs between July and October each year for the tax year which ended in February.

What is the maximum number of IRP5’s that can be submitted through eFiling per year?

On the eFiling wizard page (the first page), enter the number of IRP5s that you have in the number entry box. Then when you click the button to generate your tax return form, there will be multiple empty IRP5 documents waiting for you to fill in. Don’t worry about adding up amounts or trying to combine multiple numbers into one – you need to include each IRP5 separately on your single ITR12 tax return for the year, so just do one at a time.

My IRP5 is wrong, how do I fix it?

You need to contact the company you worked for and ask them to reissue the correct document, both to you and SARS. If it includes incorrect banking details, there’s no need for you to fix these on the IRP5, as you can amend them yourself on your tax return.

What’s the difference between an IRP5 and an ITR12?

An IRP5 is a summary of all your payslips for the year, while an ITR12 is the Income Tax Return for all individuals (including provisional taxpayers) for a particular tax year.

Is this PAYE number the same as my Tax Reference Number?

No, the PAYE number is your employer’s payroll tax number and it begins with a 7. This is not the same as your personal tax number which starts with 0, 1, 2 or 3.

What do the source codes on the IRP5 mean?

An IRP5 contains difference source codes for income, deductions and PAYE/UIF/SDL. Have a look here at what each individual source code means.

What does a tax directive number mean on my IRP5?

A tax directive number is an instruction that SARS has to withhold or not deduct tax on the earnings you received. This is located on the bottom right hand side of the IRP5 usually and often begins with the number 2.

Do I need to put the medical credits on my IRP5 under the medical section of a tax return?

No you don’t, this is different information and the medical section only asks for the number of members, the name of the medical aid and your contributions. The IRP5 contains the tax benefit in the form of a medical credit. There is no need to duplicate information.