Skills development levy: SETA setup and WSP and ATR filing
If your payroll is over R500 000 a year, SARS takes 1% of it every month as the skills development levy. Twenty percent of that comes back to you, but only if a workplace skills plan and an annual training report reach your SETA by 30 April. Most small employers never file, and the money goes into the SETA’s discretionary pool instead. We set you up with the SETA and a skills development facilitator, then file every year.
Skills development levy: SETA setup and WSP and ATR filing costs R1 990 at ProperSA. That is our fixed service fee; government and authority fees are charged at cost on top. If you give us everything we ask for and we still fail to deliver what this page promises, we refund our fee; a refusal by the authority is not refundable.
Independent paperwork service. ProperSA is an independent private company, not SARS, the Department of Higher Education and Training or any SETA. You can register with your SETA and file the plan and report yourself on the SETA’s system at no charge. Our fee pays for the setup, the facilitator role and the plan and report prepared and filed correctly before the deadline.
What the law asks for
- The levy. The Skills Development Levies Act charges every employer 1% of the total paid to employees each month, once annual payroll will exceed R500 000. It is declared on the EMP201 with PAYE and UIF and paid to SARS within seven days of month end. Late payment carries a 10% penalty plus interest.
- A SETA. When you register for the levy on the EMP101e or eFiling you must name the SETA your business falls under, chosen by your industry code. The choice is binding unless SARS directs otherwise, and an employer that never chose a SETA cannot claim a grant at all.
- The mandatory grant, 20%. Regulation 4(4) of the SETA Grant Regulations pays back 20% of the levies you paid in the year to an employer that submits a workplace skills plan (what training you plan for the year ahead) and an annual training report (what training actually happened last year).
- The deadline, 30 April. Regulation 4(3). Windows open in January or February. Under 50 employees you file on the SETA’s simplified form; 50 or more employees file the full Annexure 2 format and the plan must be signed off by a recognised union representative or, where there is no union, an employee representative on a training committee. Unclaimed grants are moved to the discretionary pool by 15 August.
- Conditions. Registered with SARS for the levy, levies paid directly and up to date, the plan and report in on time, and last year’s plan implemented.
What comes back
The grant is a straight share of what you paid. On a payroll of R3 million the levy is R30 000 a year and the grant R6 000; on R6 million it is R12 000. Our R1 990 fee comes out of the first year’s grant on any payroll over about R1 million, and the plan also unlocks two other things.
| Annual payroll | Levy paid (1%) | Mandatory grant (20%) |
|---|---|---|
| R1 000 000 | R10 000 | R2 000 |
| R2 000 000 | R20 000 | R4 000 |
| R3 000 000 | R30 000 | R6 000 |
| R6 000 000 | R60 000 | R12 000 |
| R12 000 000 | R120 000 | R24 000 |
- Discretionary grants. A SETA member with a plan on file can apply for learnership, internship and skills programme funding, which is where the larger money sits.
- B-BBEE points. The skills development element only scores if a plan, report and pivotal report were submitted. The target is 3.5% of payroll on learning programmes for black people on the generic scorecard, 3% for a qualifying small enterprise.
What is included
SETA registration and SDF appointment, R690, once.
- Your levy registration and SETA allocation checked on SARS, and the right SETA confirmed for what the business does; a transfer request prepared if you were put in the wrong one
- Membership registered with the SETA, including non levy paying membership for an employer under R500 000 who wants access to learnerships
- A skills development facilitator appointed in writing and registered with the SETA: ProperSA where the SETA accepts an external facilitator, or the owner or a manager where the SETA asks for a qualification we do not hold, with us doing the work behind them
- The grant window and deadline for your SETA in your diary, with a reminder before the window opens
WSP and ATR submission, R1 990 a year for up to 50 employees, R3 990 for 50 to 150.
- A short questionnaire and your payroll summary turned into the occupational breakdown the SETA wants: every employee by OFO code, category, race, gender, age and disability
- Last year’s training gathered and written up as the annual training report, including informal and on the job training most employers forget to claim
- The year ahead planned with you as the workplace skills plan, matched to the SETA’s pivotal programmes where that raises your grant
- For 50 or more employees: the training committee set up, the consultation minuted and the sign off obtained from the union or employee representative
- Both documents captured and submitted on the SETA’s system before 30 April, with the submission receipt in your client portal
- The grant followed up with the SETA until it is paid, and a note of what was paid for your B-BBEE file
What we do not do
- We do not run the training. The plan records what you will do; the training is bought from your own providers.
- We do not promise the discretionary grant. Those are awarded by each SETA on its own criteria and budget. We prepare applications on quote.
- We do not file after the window. An order that reaches us after 20 April is filed in the next window unless your SETA grants an extension, which we will request in writing before the deadline where the SETA allows it.
- We are not a B-BBEE verification agency. The plan and report are the gate to the skills points; a verification agency scores them.
How ordering works
- Order online with the button below and pay securely by card or instant EFT (PayFast), or wait for the EFT invoice. First year? Order the R690 setup and the submission together.
- Complete the questionnaire in your client portal and upload your payroll summary, your SARS levy registration and last year’s training records. Twenty to thirty minutes.
- We confirm the SETA, register the membership and the facilitator, then draft the report and the plan and send them to you for approval. For 50 or more employees we set up the committee sign off.
- We submit on the SETA’s system before 30 April, put the receipt in your portal and chase the grant until it is paid.
Not sure which SETA you fall under, or whether you even pay the levy? Ask us first and you get a written answer within one business day.
What we will need from you
- Your company registration number and SARS PAYE reference. The levy registration sits with the PAYE number, and your SETA code shows on it.
- A payroll summary with each employee’s job title, race, gender, date of birth, disability status and highest qualification. We map the OFO codes.
- Last year’s training. Course names, who attended, dates, provider and cost. Toolbox talks, first aid courses and software training all count.
- What you plan to train this year, even roughly. We shape it into the plan.
- The union, if there is one, and the name of the person who will represent employees on the training committee if you have 50 or more staff.
- The name of the facilitator if your SETA requires an employee: the owner or a manager, with a certified copy of their ID and matric. Never a password; we work from your written authority and our own SETA login.
Frequently asked questions
Who has to pay the skills development levy?
Every employer whose total payroll will be more than R500 000 in the next twelve months. The levy is 1% of what you pay your staff each month, declared on the EMP201 with PAYE and UIF and paid to SARS within seven days after the month end. Employers under R500 000 are exempt, as are public benefit organisations and most public bodies.
What is the mandatory grant and how much is it?
Your SETA pays back 20% of the levies you paid in the year, on condition that you submit a workplace skills plan and an annual training report by 30 April, your levies are paid up and you are registered with the SETA. Pay R30 000 in levies and the grant is R6 000. Miss the deadline and the SETA moves your grant into its discretionary pool by 15 August.
Do I need a qualified skills development facilitator?
The Act and the Grant Regulations do not define a skills development facilitator or require any qualification or licence. Each SETA registers the facilitator an employer appoints, and a few SETAs ask for a matric and a post school qualification at registration. We act as your external facilitator where the SETA accepts our registration; where it asks for a qualification we do not hold, we register the owner or a manager as facilitator and do the work behind them.
When is the deadline?
30 April every year, set by regulation 4(3) of the SETA Grant Regulations. The submission windows open in January or February. A SETA may grant an extension of up to one month, but only on a written request made before 30 April and usually only if the submission was already started on its system. A newly registered employer may apply within six months of registering.
My payroll is under R500 000. Is there anything in this for me?
No mandatory grant, because you pay no levy. You can still register with your SETA as a non levy paying member, which opens learnerships and discretionary grant funding. The R690 setup does that registration; the plan and report are only worth filing if your SETA asks for them.
Does this help my B-BBEE score?
The skills development element of the scorecard only earns points if a workplace skills plan, annual training report and pivotal report were submitted. The targets are 3.5% of payroll spent on learning programmes for black people on the generic scorecard and 3% for a qualifying small enterprise. The submission is the gate; the spend is yours. An exempted micro enterprise under R10 million turnover does not need the points, and the B-BBEE affidavit covers it.
I was put in the wrong SETA. Can it be changed?
Yes. The SETA choice is made on your industry code when you register and is binding unless SARS directs otherwise, so a transfer is requested through SARS and the two SETAs. We prepare the request as part of the R690 setup when your activities clearly fall under another SETA.
What happens if I just never file?
Nothing is enforced against you; the levy is still due. You simply forfeit 20% of it every year, lose the skills points on your scorecard, and cannot apply for learnership funding. For a payroll of R3 million that is R6 000 a year left with the SETA.
Usually ordered with it
- PAYE, UIF and SDL registration, R890. Not registered for payroll taxes yet? The levy registration happens here, and we choose the SETA with you.
- B-BBEE affidavit, R490. For a business under R10 million turnover the affidavit replaces the scorecard.
- Payslips every month, R190 a month. The payroll summary the plan needs, kept current.
- Employment contract, R490. The job titles in your contracts become the occupations in your plan.
Checked on 10 October 2026 against the Skills Development Levies Act 9 of 1999 (sections 3 to 6, 11 and 12), the SARS Guide for Employers in respect of Skills Development Levy, the SETA Grant Regulations in Government Notice R990 of 3 December 2012 as amended in 2013 (regulations 4 to 6), the 2026 submission notices of merSETA, HWSETA, Services SETA and MICT SETA, and the Amended B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice (Statement 300 of 2019 and Statement 603 of 2015). A draft replacement of the Grant Regulations was published for comment in 2023 and has not been made final at the date above. Each SETA runs its own system, forms and extension rules, which are outside ProperSA’s control.