[South Africa] Data sharing breakthrough between SARS and UIF

South Africa’s  Democratic Alliance (DA) party has commended the Ministry of Employment and Labour’s decision to draw up a joint implementation agreement on the sharing of employment data between the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), DA reports.

If it is secured, DA says the agreement would improve the overall efficiency and performance of the UIF and revolutionise the user experience of employers and employees while significantly reducing the reporting burden requirement on UIF for all businesses in South Africa.

Currently, SARS collects 98 per cent of UIF contributions through payroll tax reporting and their corresponding contributions from employers on behalf of the Department as the result of a service-level agreement in place between the two entities.

According to DA, the collection of UIF contributions through SARS is effective, however, employers in South Africa have long complained that the comprehensive payroll data - reported by employers through their declarations to SARS - is not shared with the UIF or the Department.

Employers are instead required to effectively duplicate their administrative reporting burden to remain compliant with both SARS and the Department, as they are required to also submit monthly employer UIF declarations (UI-19s) to the Department.

The higher incidence of failure to submit monthly employer UIF declarations reportedly leads to significant consequences for employees because employees can only access UIF benefits if their employer has made regular up-to-date declarations and paid over all the necessary contributions.

The proposed joint agreement is intended to eliminate the need for manual uFiling submissions, benefiting businesses, reducing administrative burdens on the Department of Labour and improving UIF claim processing.

Source: DA

South Africa’s  Democratic Alliance (DA) party has commended the Ministry of Employment and Labour’s decision to draw up a joint implementation agreement on the sharing of employment data between the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), DA reports.

If it is secured, DA says the agreement would improve the overall efficiency and performance of the UIF and revolutionise the user experience of employers and employees while significantly reducing the reporting burden requirement on UIF for all businesses in South Africa.

Currently, SARS collects 98 per cent of UIF contributions through payroll tax reporting and their corresponding contributions from employers on behalf of the Department as the result of a service-level agreement in place between the two entities.

According to DA, the collection of UIF contributions through SARS is effective, however, employers in South Africa have long complained that the comprehensive payroll data - reported by employers through their declarations to SARS - is not shared with the UIF or the Department.

Employers are instead required to effectively duplicate their administrative reporting burden to remain compliant with both SARS and the Department, as they are required to also submit monthly employer UIF declarations (UI-19s) to the Department.

The higher incidence of failure to submit monthly employer UIF declarations reportedly leads to significant consequences for employees because employees can only access UIF benefits if their employer has made regular up-to-date declarations and paid over all the necessary contributions.

The proposed joint agreement is intended to eliminate the need for manual uFiling submissions, benefiting businesses, reducing administrative burdens on the Department of Labour and improving UIF claim processing.

Source: DA