SA Wages Pro

IRP5 & IT3(a) Tax Certificates

5 min read — Updated September 2026

What Is a Tax Certificate?

A tax certificate is a summary of everything one employee earned from you in one tax year, and everything that was deducted. Every worker gets one, every year. They need it to do their own tax return, and SARS needs a copy to reconcile what you declared each month.

One certificate per employee, per tax year. Ten workers means ten certificates.

IRP5 or IT3(a)?

They are the same certificate with two different names, and SA Wages Pro picks the right one automatically:

  • IRP5 - issued where you actually deducted PAYE from the employee during the year.
  • IT3(a) - issued where you deducted no PAYE. The certificate carries reason code 02, meaning the employee earned below the tax threshold.

Most domestic workers, gardeners and seasonal farm workers earn below the tax threshold, so most of your certificates will be IT3(a)s with reason code 02. That is completely normal and is not a mistake.

How to Generate Them

  1. Go to Reports and open the SARS & UIF Forms tab.
  2. Pick "IRP5 / IT3(a)" as the form.
  3. Choose the tax year, and the scope if you only want part of your workforce.
  4. Choose whether you are filing the interim or the final reconciliation - this changes which payslips are declared.
  5. Clear any warnings in the readiness panel, especially missing ID numbers.
  6. Download the certificates and the e@syFile import file.

An employee with no ID number cannot get a valid certificate. SARS rejects the whole submission, not just that one line, so fix these before you file.

What You Get

Three downloads, each for a different purpose:

  • Download certificates (ZIP) - a ZIP file holding one PDF per employee. Print or email these to your workers. This is the copy the employee keeps.
  • e@syFile import file - a single file your accountant loads into SARS e@syFile Employer. This is what actually goes to SARS.
  • Reconciliation CSV - a plain spreadsheet of all the figures, for checking and for your own records.

How the e@syFile File Is Used

e@syFile Employer is SARS's own free desktop software for employer reconciliations. Your accountant or bookkeeper opens e@syFile, imports the file WagesPro produced, checks it, and submits it to SARS from there.

SA Wages Pro never submits anything to SARS on your behalf. It prepares the file; a person still files it. That is deliberate - you stay in control of what is declared in your name.

If the import file has a problem, SA Wages Pro tells you before you download it rather than letting e@syFile reject it later. Fix what it flags and download again.

SDL on the Certificate

If you are liable for SDL, each employee's share appears on their certificate under source code 4142. It is shown because SARS requires it on the certificate - it remains an employer cost and was never taken off the employee's pay.

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