How to Read Your IRP5 Certificate

Your IRP5 is the certificate your employer submits to SARS summarising what you earned and what tax was already deducted. When you file, SARS pre-populates your return from it — but you should still know how to read it, because errors on an IRP5 flow straight into your assessment.

What an IRP5 is

It's an employee tax certificate: one per employer, per tax year. It shows your income, your deductions, and the PAYE (Pay As You Earn) tax already withheld from your salary. If you had more than one employer in the year, you'll have more than one IRP5.

Understanding source codes

Every line on an IRP5 is tagged with a numeric source code that tells SARS exactly what that amount is. In broad terms:

• Income codes identify salary, bonus, allowances, and fringe benefits.
• Deduction codes identify things like pension and retirement fund contributions.
• Tax codes show the PAYE and other amounts withheld.

You don't need to memorise them, but you should check that the totals match your payslips — because if the code or amount is wrong, your tax outcome will be too.

What to check before you file

• Your name, ID number, and tax number are correct.
• The income and PAYE totals roughly match your final payslip for the year.
• Retirement/pension contributions are reflected (so you get the deduction).
• You have an IRP5 from every employer you worked for in the year.

If something's wrong

You can't fix an IRP5 yourself — your employer has to correct and resubmit it to SARS. Catch it early, because filing on a wrong IRP5 means an amended return later.

ClaimX reads your IRP5 automatically, maps each source code to the right place on your return, and flags mismatches — like a missing retirement deduction or an income figure that doesn't add up — before you submit.