R4.8-billion TAX assistance for jobseekers in SA

You probably don’t know government has paid out over R4.8-billion in tax assistance for jobseekers in SA over a single financial year. That’s right, it’s not a grant, and there are no applications forms that need filling out …

If you’re a registered employer with anyone between 18 and 29 years old, earning between R2 500 and R7 500 per month, SARS pays you back up to R1 500 of their salary bill each month. This tax assistance for jobseekers in SA is known as the Employment Tax Incentive (ETI).

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TAX ASSISTANCE FOR JOBSEEKERS IN SA

And here’s the part that trips people up. This tax assistance for jobseekers in SA requires no grant application whatsoever. Registered employers claim it by simply paying over less PAYE (employee tax) to the South African Revenue Service (SARS) each month.

As such, the full R1 500 per-month rebate applies where the employee earns between R2 500 and R5 500. It runs for twelve months at that full rate, then drops to R750 a month for a second twelve-month period. SARS caps total claims per employee at 24 months. That adds up to R27 000 back over two years. Crucially, none of this touches the employee’s own pay.

WHO QUALIFIES?

Much is being made of a future unemployment grant, when the SARS initiative is assisting financially and actually incentivising jobs. Image: File

To claim it, the employer must be registered for PAYE, and the employee needs a valid South African ID. It’s that simple. However, there are three exclusions. You cannot claim the incentive for a relative, domestic workers are excluded from qualifying entirely, as are government and municipal employers. As such, this tax assistance for jobseekers in SA is squarely aimed at private-sector job creation.

SARS says the legislation runs until 28 February 2029. So, there’s still years of runway left for employers who haven’t yet taken advantage. Moreover, the National Treasury confirms that ETI claims can run as high as R4.8 billion in a single year. Despite this, a significant share of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) who qualify simply aren’t claiming it. As ever, this is probably due to SMEs not registering for PAYE tax, preferring an informal approach to payroll.

But what do you think? Do you like this idea of tax assistance for jobseekers in SA? And could government do even more? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below …

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