October payroll tax is due Friday 6 November, not Saturday

Employers must pay October’s PAYE, UIF and SDL to SARS by Friday 6 November 2026, not on Saturday 7 November, because SARS’s own rule moves a payment deadline that lands on a weekend back to the last business day before it. The rule is on the SARS Skills Development Levy page, while SARS’s October newsletter lists the date simply as 7 November.

What this means for your business

A payroll payment that arrives one day late is still late, and late payment attracts penalties and interest. SARS’s PAYE page also says employers who wilfully or negligently fail to submit or pay on time can face a fine or imprisonment of up to two years. The practical risk is small but real: a finance team that diaries “the 7th” will miss it this month. The same newsletter marks a run of dates through to year end, and the first one is a deadline that has just passed, so this is a good week to check that nothing is outstanding.

The deadline that has just passed

The Employer Interim Reconciliation period opened on 21 September 2026 and closed on 31 October 2026, according to the SARS PAYE page. It covers the six months from 1 March 2026 to 31 August 2026, and employers submit the EMP501 declaration through eFiling or e@syFile Employer. The last day, 31 October, was a Saturday.

If you did not submit, SARS’s page spells out the consequences:

• A late EMP501 attracts an administrative penalty that SARS describes as 1% of your annual PAYE, rising by 1% for each month the return stays outstanding, up to a maximum of 10%.
• Employers with unused Employment Tax Incentive (ETI) forfeit it where they fail to submit or have a non-compliant status.
• Failing to deliver IRP5 or IT3(a) certificates within the prescribed deadlines, or failing to pay deducted tax over to SARS in time, is listed as a criminal offence.

Submitting is also not the same as finishing. SARS tells employers to check the status of the submission and the PAYE Dashboard to confirm the reconciliation was processed, and says an incomplete or error-ridden submission is treated as not successfully submitted. It also advises submitting any outstanding monthly EMP201 declarations and settling payments first, to reduce the risk of rejection. Our earlier piece explains why ETI is the part small employers forget.

The dates from now to year end

SARS’s SMME Connect newsletter of October 2026 lists these dates. The day of the week is added for each.

• 7 November 2026: EMP201 submission and payment for October payrolls. This is a Saturday, so pay by Friday 6 November under the weekend rule on the SARS page.
• 25 November 2026: VAT201 submission and payment “where applicable”, a Wednesday.
• 7 December 2026: EMP201 for November payrolls, a Monday.
• 31 December 2026: ITR14 company income tax return for some companies with a June year-end, a Thursday.

On VAT, the SARS guide to completing the VAT201 says vendors who file manually must do so by the 25th of the month, while vendors who use eFiling have until the last business day of the month to submit returns and payments. For November 2026 that would be Monday 30 November. The newsletter shows 25 November, so if you are unsure which applies to you, treat the earlier date as the safe one, and check the category printed on your VAT registration.

What to do or watch

1. Confirm today that your EMP501 interim reconciliation was submitted and shows as processed on the PAYE Dashboard. If it was not, submit now, because the penalty grows by 1% for each month outstanding.
2. Check that every outstanding EMP201 from earlier months is submitted and paid before you reconcile.
3. Diary Friday 6 November as the payment date for October PAYE, UIF and SDL, and tell whoever releases payments.
4. Diary 7 December for November payrolls, and note the SARS calendar has no weekend problem that month.
5. Work out your VAT201 date from your own registration category, and file by 25 November if you cannot confirm it.
6. If you have a June year-end, ask your accountant whether your ITR14 is due by 31 December. See also our compliance calendar for running a business and the penalties late filers face.

What we could not confirm

• Whether SARS extended the 31 October interim reconciliation deadline. The SARS PAYE page we read still gives 31 October as the closing date, and we found no extension notice.
• The exact wording of the penalty. We have followed SARS’s own description of 1% of annual PAYE, rising to 10%. Check your own assessment on eFiling for the amount that applies to you.
• Which VAT201 date applies to each vendor, since the guide and the newsletter differ for eFilers.
• Whether the 4 November elections change any SARS processing times. We found no SARS notice on this.