June marks the end of the tax year in Eswatini. The Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS) TaxEase system calculates PAYE using actual calendar days worked, with monthly submissions from July to June forming the final annual PAYE position. As the June submission acts as the annual declaration, it is important to identify and resolve any variances between payroll and the TaxEase PAYE Reconciliation Detail report before closing the June pay run.
What has changed in ERS TaxEase?
ERS updated TaxEase to provide real-time visibility of PAYE variances. The key updates are:
- Monthly submissions: Monthly schedules now build the annual PAYE position and replace the previous annual reconciliation spreadsheet.
- Calculation method: PAYE is calculated using actual calendar days worked.
- Variance tracking: TaxEase highlights variances during the year, allowing corrections to be made before year-end.
Calendar day tax factor
PAYE is calculated using a tax factor based on cumulative calendar days worked. This improves accuracy for new starters, leavers, employees on unpaid leave, and employees with irregular earnings.
To support this logic, implemented in October 2025, please ensure the following payroll components are active and accurate:
- Days Worked: Actual calendar days worked in the period.
- Absent Days: Unpaid leave days that reduce days worked for PAYE purposes.
- Tax Factor: System-calculated factor based on cumulative days and tax periods.
Correcting variances
A variance occurs when the Year-to-Date (YTD) PAYE calculated on the TaxEase PAYE Reconciliation Detail report does not match the YTD PAYE deducted in payroll.
Common causes include:
- Incorrect employment start or end dates. Full-year employees should reflect 365 days worked.
- Incorrect tax table selection, such as applying the standard table to a board member.
- Incorrect remuneration classification.
- Incorrect totals in the Regular Earnings and Fringe Benefits columns on the TaxEase PAYE Reconciliation Detail report.
- Missing or incorrect employee PINs.
- Missing monthly PAYE schedule submissions.
Review the Regular Earnings and Fringe Benefits totals on the TaxEase PAYE Reconciliation Detail report to ensure they align with payroll records and do not create variances.
If a full-year employee shows 364 days instead of 365, one month may have been captured incorrectly, for example, 30 days instead of 31. Review the monthly records in TaxEase under: Menu > Tax Forms > PAYE Reconciliation > Select by month.
Managing PAYE adjustments
When making corrections, always use the YTD variance, not the monthly variance. Negative adjustments cannot exceed the total YTD PAYE.
- Over-deductions: Reduce PAYE by the variance amount on the June schedule. Once the June declaration is re-uploaded, TaxEase should reconcile automatically.
- Under-deductions: Increase the PAYE deducted by the variance amount and pay the additional payment to ERS.
Please only process adjustments after completing full reconciliation. If a refund exceeds the tax due for June, the original month in which the error occurred must be corrected.
June pay run checklist
Please complete the following before closing the June payroll:
- Confirm that Days Worked, Absent Days, and Tax Factor are correctly applied in payroll.
- Capture all unpaid leave as Absent Days.
- Reconcile payroll totals against the ERS TaxEase YTD reconciliation report.
- Check that all employees active in June have accurate schedule data.
- Review terminated employees to confirm PAYE was finalised correctly in their final month of employment.
- Re-upload any amended schedules in TaxEase. If a prior period is closed, contact ERS for support.
Terminated employees
Corrections for leavers must be applied to the employee’s final month of employment.
For employees who left before October 2025 and were not processed under the calendar-day logic, complete the following steps to trigger a recalculation:
- Create an Interim Run linked to the June pay run.
- Enter 0.01 against any taxable component for the employee.
- Process and finalise the result.
Support and guidance
For system specific information, please refer to the Release Notes:
- 903621 / 90362: Tax factor enhancement details.
- 87599: 'Allow negative PAYE' functionality.
ERS has published the following resources:
- Step-by-step guide on accessing and submitting monthly PAYE schedules
- New Monthly PAYE Tax Computation Tool
- Additional support via the ERS website and social media platforms