Ledgr/Documentation/SARS returns
SARS returns
Every return computed from the ledger you already posted to, ready to download, with a calendar that counts down and a record of what you filed when.
The SARS module is included from Professional upwards.
Ledgr prepares returns; it does not file them. For each return you check the figures on screen, download the file, and then capture it on SARS eFiling or import it into e@syFile Employer yourself. Nothing is ever transmitted on your behalf, so nothing is submitted until you submit it — which also means you (or your accountant) keep the last look at every figure before it carries your name.
Two of these are files SARS accepts directly: the e@syFile certificate import and the DTR02 schedule. The rest are a printed field sheet in eFiling's own order, so capturing a return is reading down one column instead of hunting through your books.
Each generator validates before it produces anything. If something blocks the return — no VAT number, an employee with no tax reference, an ETI claim larger than the PAYE — Ledgr shows you the reasons and offers no file. Warnings are different: those appear next to the download so you read them before filing, not after an assessment.
The overview
Each tax type on a card showing the filing frequency, when you last noted it as filed and when the next one is due. Underneath, the tax calendar lists the upcoming deadlines sorted by urgency with a countdown on each. The same countdown appears on the dashboard. A panel spells out where each downloaded return goes — eFiling or e@syFile.
VAT201
- Reconcile the period first
Unreconciled bank transactions and uncaptured supplier invoices are the two things that make a VAT201 wrong. Clear them before you look at the numbers.
- SARS → VAT201, choose the period
It defaults to the previous month. Ledgr computes output VAT from the invoices you issued and input VAT from the expenses and bills you captured.
- Check the boxes against your own expectation
Standard-rated, zero-rated and exempt supplies are separated, as are capital and non-capital input claims. The payable or refundable figure is the difference.
- Download the return and capture it on eFiling
The PDF lists every VAT201 field in eFiling's own order; the CSV is the same for a spreadsheet. Read down the column into eFiling and submit it there.
- Note it in the filing register
Once you have filed on eFiling, "note it in the register" stores the period with a Ledgr reference so the next period opens from a clean base and your history is complete. That reference is Ledgr's own — SARS issues its own on eFiling, and that is the one to quote to them.
Zero-rated supplies carry VAT at 0% and still allow the input claim. Exempt supplies do not. Set the treatment on the invoice line rather than adjusting the return afterwards, or the two will not agree.
EMP201
Built from finalised payroll periods: PAYE, UIF and SDL for the month with the per-employee breakdown behind each figure. If a total looks low, check that every payroll run for the month is finalised rather than still in draft — see the payroll guide.
IRP5 and IT3(a) certificates
This is the one that saves real time. Ledgr builds the e@syFile Employer import file from your approved payslips, so no certificate is captured by hand. In e@syFile: Utilities → Import Payroll File, pick the downloaded file, then reconcile against the EMP501.
Before it generates anything, the screen reviews every certificate and lists the problems per employee. That order matters: e@syFile rejects an entire import on one bad record and reports it by line number, so a readable fix list up front beats a rejection afterwards. A second download gives the per-employee schedule as a CSV for your own file.
Read the warnings on that screen. Ledgr reports the employee's own retirement contribution but not the employer's, does not calculate ETI, and reconstructs the medical scheme fees tax credit from the recorded number of beneficiaries. If any of those apply to you, complete them in e@syFile before submitting.
ITR14 and IRP6
ITR14 is the company income tax return for the year of assessment; IRP6 is the provisional return, first and second period. Ledgr produces an estimate for both from the same trial balance the income statement uses, and a trial-balance CSV as the supporting schedule SARS asks for alongside the return. Treat the figures as a working number to review with your accountant, not a final computation — permanent and temporary differences, assessed losses and capital allowances all need judgement Ledgr does not make for you.
DTR01 and the DTR02 schedule
Whether a dividend is exempt turns on who received it — a resident company is exempt under section 64F, a natural person is not — and a general ledger holds none of that. So dividend declarations are captured with their beneficial owners rather than derived, and each one produces a DTR01 to capture on eFiling plus a DTR02 CSV to attach.
The filing register
Every return you note as filed is listed with its tax type, period, amount and Ledgr reference. This is the register you produce when SARS asks what you filed and when. The references in it are Ledgr's own — the authoritative one is whatever eFiling gave you.
For tax practitioners
The SARS module is exactly where an external accountant does their work, so the Tax Practitioner role carries full SARS access — including the export right every download needs — plus view and export on the financials, without the ability to change user permissions. Invite them under roles & users, or through the practitioner workspace, and they can prepare and download every return above for the entities they have access to. See roles & users.
Key SA deadlines
| Return | Frequency | Usually due |
|---|---|---|
| VAT201 | Every two months, or monthly above the threshold | Last business day of the month following the period |
| EMP201 | Monthly | 7th of the following month |
| EMP501 | Twice a year | Interim in October, annual in May |
| IRP6 | Twice a year | End of the sixth month, and at year end |
| IT14 | Annually | Twelve months after year end |
Ledgr's calendar reflects your own registration and filing frequency; the table above is the general shape. Confirm your dates on eFiling.