Pharsyde is doing a series of blog posts designed specifically to raise awareness with regards to statutory submissions. Business ownership overs a wide-range and long list of responsibilities and it is not uncommon for a small business owner to be unaware of the extent of his legal requirements. These posts cover the common statutory submissions: what they are, why they exist and when they are due. If you need more detail about a specific submission or help in getting it right, please give us a shout – we would be happy to go through them in detail with you.
The Skills Development Levy (SDL) is a levy imposed to encourage learning and development in South Africa. The funds are supposed to be used to develop and improve skills of employees.
It is a voluntary levy until such time as your total payroll is expected to exceed R500,000 for 12 months (R41,666 per month total salaries). As soon as your total salaries go over R500,000 for a year, you have no choice and you have to register with SARS for SDL.
SDL is a flat 1% of your salaries and it is paid by the company, not the employees. So if your salaries for the month come to R50,000 in total, then you will be paying SARS R500 in SDL in addition to your PAYE and UIF amounts.
SDL is declared on the monthly EMP return alongside PAYE and UIF and the three are paid together in one bulk amount, due by the 7th of each month (or nearest prior working day). The levies are collected by SARS and are distributed via SETAs (Sector Education and Training Authorities). There is a SETA for each major industry and their focus is to facilitate the upskilling of individuals (unemployed or employed). The SDL collected from payroll goes towards employers and training bodies who provide learners with education grants and bursaries.
In other words, if you pay your monthly SDL levy and you pay for your staff’s continuous education, you can apply to get a portion of your levy back from your SETA.
Want more info? You can read the SARS guide here or have a look at all the Labour department’s How To guides here.
Find this confusing? Book a call with us and we can chat through it in detail.
