The Employment Tax Incentive (ETI) rewards you for employing young South Africans by reducing the PAYE you pay over to SARS. Bluubin works out who qualifies and how much you can claim on every payroll run, so you never leave money on the table.
The Employment Tax Incentive is a SARS programme that encourages employers to hire young, lower-earning workers by letting you reduce the PAYE you pay over each month. It's genuine money back for growing your team — but only if you claim it correctly, and the qualifying rules and sliding-scale amounts trip up a lot of businesses that try to work it out by hand.
Bluubin's ETI software takes the guesswork out of it. For every employee, Bluubin checks the qualifying criteria — age, remuneration, employment start date and months already claimed — and calculates the correct incentive automatically, then reduces the PAYE on your EMP201. You claim exactly what you're entitled to, for exactly as long as you're entitled to it.
Bluubin identifies which employees qualify for ETI on each run — checking that they're aged 18 to 29, hold a valid South African ID, asylum seeker or refugee permit, earn below the monthly remuneration threshold, were employed on or after 1 October 2013, and aren't domestic workers or connected to the employer. No manual eligibility spreadsheet to maintain.
The ETI value isn't a flat amount — it's calculated on a sliding scale based on each employee's monthly remuneration, at the higher first-year rate for the first 12 qualifying months and the reduced rate for the next 12. Bluubin applies the current SARS values automatically, including the correct pro-rata for employees who don't work a full month.
The total incentive for the period reduces the PAYE you pay over to SARS, and it flows through to your EMP201 automatically. You see exactly how much ETI has been claimed and what your net PAYE liability is before you submit — no re-capturing, no separate calculation.
ETI can be claimed for a maximum of 24 months per qualifying employee, so Bluubin tracks the months already used and stops the claim at the right time. Where your available ETI is more than the PAYE due in a month, the excess is carried and reconciled at your EMP501, so nothing is lost.
The ETI is a SARS incentive that encourages employers to hire young and lower-earning workers by allowing them to reduce the PAYE they pay over each month. It shares the cost of employment between the employer and government, without affecting the employee's wage.
In general, an employee must be 18 to 29 years old, hold a valid South African ID, asylum seeker or refugee permit, earn below the monthly remuneration threshold set by SARS, and have been employed on or after 1 October 2013. Domestic workers and employees connected to the employer don't qualify. Bluubin checks these criteria automatically for each employee.
The amount is calculated on a sliding scale based on the employee's monthly remuneration — a higher rate for the first 12 qualifying months and a reduced rate for the next 12, up to a maximum of 24 months per qualifying employee. Bluubin applies the current SARS rates and thresholds and tracks the months used for you.
Bluubin calculates the total qualifying ETI for the period and reduces the PAYE payable on your EMP201. Where your ETI exceeds the PAYE due in a month, the excess is carried and reconciled at your EMP501, so you claim the full value you're entitled to.
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