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How to correct an IRP5 with the wrong salary, PAYE or medical-aid amount
How do I correct an IRP5 that has the wrong salary, PAYE or medical-aid amount?
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Direct answer
Check the amount against your payroll and third-party records, then ask your employer or former employer to correct and resubmit the IRP5/IT3(a) certificate to SARS. You cannot edit the employer certificate fields on your ITR12. You remain responsible for reviewing the return before you sign it.
There is an important exception for PAYE over-deductions. SARS tells employers not to correct an over-deduction of PAYE on the certificate. In that case, SARS says the employee should submit an ITR12 to claim a refund. Do not apply that exception automatically to an incorrect salary, medical-aid amount, UIF, SDL or another certificate item.
What this means in practice
An IRP5/IT3(a) contains employer-submitted data that SARS uses to prepopulate your ITR12. SARS says certificate information is not editable on the ITR12, so the employer must correct the source data.
Identify exactly what is wrong, such as salary, PAYE, medical scheme contribution, retirement contribution or employment dates. Compare the certificate with the supporting records and give payroll the tax year, certificate number, incorrect and corrected amounts, and evidence.
SARS's Employment Taxes Validation guidance distinguishes an amended certificate from a cancelled and replaced certificate. Where the certificate type, transaction year and year of assessment do not change, the employer amends the certificate. Where one of those items changes, the original certificate is cancelled and replaced with a new certificate number. That is the employer's SARS process, not a task an employee can perform on eFiling.
Step-by-step
- Identify the item and tax year that are wrong.
Check the IRP5/IT3(a) and the prepopulated ITR12 against the relevant payslips and final payroll information. For a medical-aid error, compare the certificate with the medical scheme tax certificate, contribution statement and dependant information. For a retirement contribution error, compare it with the fund certificate or employer contribution records.
- Prepare a written correction request for the employer.
Send it to payroll or HR, and keep a copy. Include your name, employee number, tax reference number if available, certificate number, tax year, the incorrect amount, the amount you believe is correct, and copies of the supporting records. Ask the employer to investigate, submit the corrected IRP5/IT3(a) and applicable revised EMP501 reconciliation to SARS, and give you a replacement or amended certificate.
- Wait for confirmation, then check the return again.
Once the employer confirms it has acted, recheck your eFiling information. SARS does not say that every corrected certificate will appear immediately, so do not rely only on an informal assurance from payroll. Check the data and retain the correspondence and documents that support it.
- Apply the PAYE over-deduction exception carefully.
If the problem is that too much PAYE was deducted, SARS's Employment Taxes Validation guidance says the employer should not correct the PAYE over-deduction on the certificate. SARS tells the employer to inform the employee to submit an ITR12 to claim a refund. That exception is limited. SARS treats UIF and SDL overstatements differently, and a wrong salary or medical-aid amount may still require a corrected certificate.
- Submit or correct the ITR12 only when you can stand behind it.
Check all the income, deductions and personal details before signing. Do not try to overwrite the locked IRP5 fields. If your circumstances are more complex, or a current filing deadline is close, get SARS guidance or professional assistance.
Documents and records to keep
- The original IRP5/IT3(a), any replacement certificate and the certificate number.
- Payslips, final payroll reconciliation, employment contract and correspondence about salary, bonus or other remuneration.
- Proof of PAYE withheld, including payroll summaries and bank statements where needed to reconcile net pay.
- Medical scheme tax certificate, contribution statement and dependant details where medical-aid information is wrong.
- Retirement-fund contribution certificate where the retirement information is wrong.
- Your written request to the employer, the employer's response, and confirmation of any amended IRP5 or revised EMP501 submission.
Important limits and exceptions
You are responsible for ensuring that the return you sign is true and correct, even where SARS prepopulates information. But that does not mean you can edit the employer certificate fields in the ITR12. Ask the employer to correct the certificate data.
Do not turn the PAYE over-deduction exception into a general rule. SARS's guidance says not to correct an over-deduction of PAYE on the certificate and directs the employee to submit an ITR12 to claim a refund. It separately says that an under-deduction of employees' tax requires employer action, including an amended certificate after the employee-tax shortfall has been recovered. The payroll, employment-law and recovery consequences can be fact-specific.
The 2026 employer annual reconciliation period was 1 April to 31 May 2026. That historical date does not establish a deadline for another tax year. Do not state or rely on a correction deadline without checking the current SARS notice and the transaction year.
When to get tailored advice
Get tailored advice for a disputed salary figure, a termination or severance payment, a tax directive, share remuneration, several employers or an employer that will not correct demonstrably wrong data. Get help promptly where the correction could affect a filing deadline, verification request, assessment or refund.
Related TaxProof guides
- IRP5 certificates and EMP501 reconciliations
- Medical tax credits
- Submitting an individual tax return
- Related next guide: My employer has not submitted my IRP5 to SARS.