How to Read Your Payslip and IRP5 in South Africa (2026/2027)

1. The Short Answer

Your payslip shows one month: what you earned, what was deducted and what reached your bank account. Your IRP5 is the tax certificate your employer issues after the tax year ends (the year runs 1 March to 28 February). It adds up the whole year under numbered source codes, and SARS uses it to assess your tax return.

If the IRP5 is wrong, your assessment is wrong. Ten minutes checking it against your last payslip of the year is the cheapest tax check you can do.

2. The Lines on Your Payslip

Earnings

• Basic salary: your contracted monthly pay.
• Overtime, commission and bonuses: taxed as normal income. A 13th cheque or annual bonus is taxed in the month it is paid, which is why that month's PAYE looks high.
• Allowances: a travel allowance is partly taxed through PAYE (usually 80% of it, or 20% if your employer is satisfied that at least 80% of your travel is for business). The final tax depends on your logbook when you file.
• Fringe benefits: non-cash benefits that are taxed as if they were salary, such as a company car, the employer's share of medical aid, or the employer's contribution to your pension fund. They appear on the payslip so PAYE can be worked out, but you never receive them in cash.

Deductions

• PAYE: income tax, worked out as if your current monthly pay continues for the whole year, then divided by 12.
• UIF: 1% of your pay, capped. For 2026/2027 the cap is earnings of R17,712 a month, so the most anyone pays is R177.12 a month. Your employer pays the same amount again on top.
• Pension or provident fund: your own contribution. It is deducted before PAYE is worked out, so it reduces your tax (up to 27.5% of your income, capped at R430,000 a year from 1 March 2026).
• Medical aid: your share of the contribution. It does not reduce your taxable income, but your employer gives you the medical scheme fees tax credit, which reduces your PAYE. See our medical tax credits guide.
• Other deductions: union fees, loan repayments, garnishee orders. These come out of your after-tax pay and do not change your tax.

Employer contributions

Many payslips also list what the employer paid: its UIF share, the Skills Development Levy (1% of payroll, paid by employers with a payroll above R500,000 a year) and its pension and medical contributions. SDL and the employer's UIF are not taken from your pay.

3. Worked Example: a R35,000 Salary

Ayanda is 34 and earns R35,000 a month. She contributes 7.5% to her employer's pension fund and pays R4,000 a month for medical aid for herself and her partner. Here is her 2026/2027 payslip, using SARS's annualised method:

The PAYE works like this:

1. Annual salary: R35,000 × 12 = R420,000
2. Less pension contributions: R2,625 × 12 = R31,500, leaving taxable income of R388,500
3. Tax on R388,500 from the 2026/2027 table: R79,998 + 31% of the amount above R383,100 = R81,672
4. Less the primary rebate of R17,820 = R63,852 a year, or R5,321 a month
5. Less the medical scheme fees credit for two people: R376 + R376 = R752 a month
6. PAYE: R5,321 − R752 = R4,569

Payroll systems round slightly differently, so your own payslip may differ by a few rand. Our PAYE calculator runs the same steps on your numbers.

4. What the IRP5 Is

The IRP5 (or IT3(a) if no tax was deducted) is issued by every employer you worked for during the tax year. Each employer submits its copy to SARS, which is how SARS can pre-populate your return and auto-assess many taxpayers. In the 2026 filing season, SARS ran auto-assessments from 1 to 12 July 2026; the deadline for non-provisional taxpayers who were not auto-assessed was 23 October 2026, and provisional taxpayers have until 22 January 2027.

You can download your IRP5 from eFiling or the SARS MobiApp, or ask your employer's payroll department for a copy.

5. The IRP5 Source Codes That Matter

Every amount on the IRP5 sits next to a four-digit source code. Codes starting with 3 are income; codes starting with 4 are deductions, contributions and tax. These are the ones most employees see:

You do not need to understand every code. The important ones are 3601 (did they get your income right?), 4102 (how much tax was paid?) and the medical and retirement codes, because those drive your credits and deductions.

6. Checking Your IRP5 Before You File

1. Compare 3601 with your February payslip. Most payslips show year-to-date totals. The IRP5 salary should match the year-to-date taxable pay.
2. Compare 4102 with the year-to-date PAYE on the same payslip.
3. Check the tax year and your details: ID number, name and income tax number. A wrong ID number means SARS may never link the IRP5 to you.
4. Check the period of employment. If you joined mid-year, the dates should match your start date.
5. If you had two employers, make sure both IRP5s appear on your return. Two employers each deducting PAYE as if they were your only income is the most common reason for a surprise tax bill, because neither applies the higher brackets your combined income reaches.

7. If Something Is Wrong

You cannot correct an IRP5 yourself. Only your employer can, by submitting a corrected certificate to SARS. Ask payroll in writing, and keep a copy of the request.

• If the employer issues a corrected IRP5 before you file, file as normal.
• If you were auto-assessed on the wrong figures, file a corrected return once the employer has fixed the IRP5, or lodge an objection within the time allowed if the deadline has passed.
• If PAYE was deducted from your pay but does not appear on the IRP5, SARS will not credit it to you. That one is worth chasing hard.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

Every figure on this page was checked against these official sources on 1 November 2026:

• SARS: Rates of tax for individuals (2027 tax year)
• SARS: Medical tax credit rates
• SARS: Employees tax (PAYE)
• SARS: Unemployment Insurance Fund contributions
• SARS: Skills Development Levy