How to read your IRP5

Your IRP5 is the tax certificate your employer gives you after the tax year, and it is the single most important document in your return. It is a grid of four-digit source codes, each one a labelled box: codes starting 36/37/38 are income, allowances and fringe benefits; codes starting 40/41 are deductions and the tax that was already withheld. The four you most need to recognise are 3601 (your salary), 3701 (travel allowance), 3810 (your medical-aid benefit) and 4102 (the PAYE your employer paid over to SARS). Once you can read the codes, you can check that the numbers SARS pre-fills on your ITR12 actually match what you earned – which is the whole point of reading it. Below we walk the certificate code by code, explain the reasoning behind each one, and show you how the figures roll up into your assessment.

IRP5 vs IT3(a): same form, one difference

Your employer issues one of two certificates, and they look almost identical:

An IRP5 is issued when employees' tax (PAYE) was deducted from what you were paid. This is the normal case for a salaried job.
An IT3(a) is issued when no PAYE was deducted – for example, because your earnings were below the tax threshold, or the income was a type that isn't subject to PAYE.

The layout and the source codes are the same on both. The practical difference is the tax line: an IRP5 will show tax paid under code 4102; a pure IT3(a) will not. Everything in this guide applies to both.

You don't usually fetch the certificate yourself – your employer submits it to SARS in the annual reconciliation, and SARS then pre-populates the figures onto your ITR12. Your job is to check that the pre-filled numbers match the certificate you were given and the income you actually received. That check is only possible if you can read the codes.

How the source codes are organised

Every line on an IRP5 carries a four-digit source code that tells SARS exactly what the amount is. The first two digits tell you the family:

Code range	What it is
3601–3699	Income (salary, bonus, commission, overtime)
3701–3768	Allowances (travel, subsistence)
3801–3899	Fringe benefits (medical aid, company car, employer fund contributions)
3696 / 3697 / 3699	Gross totals (subtotals that summarise the income lines)
4001–4150	Deductions, employees' tax and tax credits

The income and allowance codes increase your taxable income. The 40xx deduction codes reduce it, and the tax codes (41xx) record money already paid towards your bill. Read in that order, the certificate tells a complete story: here is what you earned, here is what comes off, here is what was already paid.

A useful detail: many codes have a "foreign-service twin" – the same code with a different second digit (for example 3601's twin is 3651) used only for income earned while working abroad. You'll almost always see the home-service version, so we use those throughout.

The income codes (36xx): what you earned

These are the amounts that make up your remuneration. The most common:

3601 – Income (subject to PAYE). This is the big one: your normal salary or wages for services rendered. For most people it's the largest number on the certificate. (SARS describes it as "an amount which is paid or payable to an employee for services rendered.")
3605 – Annual payment. A payment defined as an annual payment – most often your bonus or a 13th cheque. Seeing your bonus here is normal. Despite the separate code, there is no special bonus tax rate – it's added to your other income and taxed at your marginal rates. See how your bonus is taxed.
3606 – Commission. Commission earned.
3607 – Overtime. Overtime pay.
3616 – Independent contractor. Remuneration paid to an independent contractor.

There are dozens more (leave pay, arbitration awards, restraint of trade, and so on), but if you're a salaried employee, 3601 plus possibly 3605 usually covers the bulk of what you earned.

The allowance codes (37xx): travel and subsistence

Allowances are reported separately from salary because they're taxed under their own rules. The travel codes are where most people get confused, so it's worth being precise:

3701 – Travel allowance (subject to PAYE). A fixed allowance or advance for business travel – including a fixed monthly travel allowance and petrol-, garage- or maintenance cards. SARS taxes 80% of this through your monthly PAYE by default (20% if your employer is satisfied at least 80% of your driving is for business). You then claim your actual business-travel deduction on assessment – but only if you kept a logbook. Full reasoning in our travel allowance guide.
3702 – Reimbursive travel allowance (taxable portion). Where your employer paid you per kilometre at a rate that exceeds the SARS prescribed rate, the excess portion sits here and is taxable.
3703 – Reimbursive travel allowance (non-taxable). Where the per-kilometre rate is at or below the SARS prescribed rate and you got no other travel compensation, the reimbursement is non-taxable and reported here.

The distinction that matters: 3701 is a fixed allowance (paid whether you drive or not), while 3702/3703 are reimbursements tied to kilometres you actually travelled. They're taxed differently, and seeing any of them on your IRP5 means you must file a return rather than relying on the single-source filing exemption – see do I need to submit a return.

The fringe-benefit codes (38xx): things your employer paid for

A fringe benefit is a non-cash benefit your employer provided that has a taxable value. The one nearly everyone has:

3810 – Medical aid contributions (subject to PAYE). This is the medical-scheme contribution your employer paid on your behalf, treated as a taxable fringe benefit and added to your income. It's the mirror image of code 4005 (below): the employer's payment is taxed as a benefit, then your contribution is recognised as a deduction. Net effect: only the portion you genuinely funded is taxed.

You may also see fringe-benefit codes for a company car (right of use of a motor vehicle), employer contributions to your pension, provident or retirement-annuity fund, and low-interest loans. Each has a taxable value that's added to your income – which is exactly why your "taxable income" is usually higher than the cash salary that hit your bank account.

The deduction and tax codes (40xx / 41xx): what comes off, and what's been paid

These codes are how the certificate gets you to the right answer. The key ones:

4001 – Pension fund contributions. Total pension-fund contributions paid (and "deemed paid") by you as the employee. This is a deduction that reduces taxable income.
4005 – Medical scheme fees paid by the employee. Your own medical-scheme contributions (and the portion deemed paid by you), excluding the employer-paid retired-member amount under code 4493. This pairs with the 3810 fringe benefit so you're only taxed on the part you didn't fund.
4006 – Retirement annuity fund contributions. Total retirement-annuity-fund contributions paid (and deemed paid) by you. RA contributions, pension and provident contributions are all deductible together under the section 11F cap – see our retirement annuity deduction guide. (Note: this is a newly separated code applicable from the 2026 year of assessment; on older certificates RA contributions appeared elsewhere.)
4102 – PAYE (Pay-As-You-Earn). The employees' tax your employer already withheld and paid over to SARS on your behalf during the year. This is money you've effectively pre-paid – it's deducted from your final tax bill, and if it exceeds your liability you get the difference back as a refund.
4115 – Tax on lump sums. Tax withheld on retirement, withdrawal or severance lump sums (it pairs with lump-sum income codes such as 3915/3920/3921). Most salary-only certificates won't show this.
4116 – Medical scheme fees tax credit. The section 6A medical tax credit your employer already took into account when working out your monthly PAYE. For the 2026 tax year that credit is R364/month for the main member, R364 for the first dependant and R246 for each additional dependant. Seeing it here means the benefit was already given through payroll – it should still appear on your assessment. See medical tax credits explained.
4141 – UIF contributions and 4150 – total of employee tax, SDL and UIF are summary/administrative lines. The headline "total tax" deliberately excludes the value of code 4116 (because a tax credit is not tax you paid).

Read together: your income and fringe-benefit codes build your taxable income, the 4001/4005/4006 codes reduce it, 4116 reduces the tax on it, and 4102 records what's already been paid. That's your assessment in miniature.

A worked example: reading Lerato's IRP5

Lerato is 40, salaried, on her employer's medical aid. Her 2026 IRP5 shows:

Code	Description	Amount
3601	Income (salary)	R480,000
3605	Annual payment (bonus)	R40,000
3701	Travel allowance	R36,000
3810	Medical aid (employer-paid benefit)	R30,000
4001	Pension fund contributions	R38,400
4005	Medical scheme fees (her portion)	R30,000
4102	PAYE withheld	R118,000
4116	Medical scheme fees tax credit	R8,736

Here's how to read it, line by line:

Income. Her salary (3601 = R480,000) plus bonus (3605 = R40,000) plus travel allowance (3701 = R36,000) plus the medical-aid fringe benefit (3810 = R30,000) all go into the income side. The bonus is not taxed at a special rate – it simply lifts her annual income.
The travel allowance trap. Of the R36,000 travel allowance, 80% (R28,800) was included for monthly PAYE. She can only claw back a deduction on assessment if she kept a logbook; without one, the full allowance stays taxed.
Deductions. Her pension contributions (4001 = R38,400) and her medical contributions (4005 = R30,000) reduce her taxable income. The 4005 figure offsets the 3810 fringe benefit, so she's effectively taxed only on what the employer contributed beyond her own share.
The medical credit. Code 4116 = R8,736 is the s6A credit her payroll already applied (R364 + R364 for her and one dependant ≈ R728/month × 12). It comes off the tax, not the income – and her assessment should still reflect it.
Tax already paid. Code 4102 = R118,000 is what's already with SARS. Her final assessment compares her real liability to this number. If her logbook-based travel deduction and her contributions push her true liability below R118,000, she gets a refund; if not, she may owe a little.

The reasoning is the point: every code is a piece of the assessment, and reading them lets you sanity-check SARS's pre-filled return before you submit it.

How to check your IRP5 for errors

Pre-populated doesn't mean correct. Before you file:

Match the codes to reality. Does 3601 match your actual gross salary? Is your bonus under 3605? Is the medical aid you're on reflected in 3810/4005?
Confirm the allowance codes. If you got a travel allowance, 3701 (or 3702/3703) must be present – and it means you must file and should have a logbook ready.
Check 4102. This is your pre-paid tax. If it looks too low, you may owe on assessment; too high, and a refund is likely.
Check 4116. If you're on a medical aid but no s6A credit shows, you'll want to make sure it's applied on your return.
Cross-check against your payslips. The IRP5 should reconcile to your March-to-February payslips. A mismatch is worth raising with your employer's payroll before SARS assesses you, because correcting it afterwards is slower.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between an IRP5 and an IT3(a)? They're the same certificate with one difference: an IRP5 is issued when PAYE (employees' tax) was deducted from your pay, while an IT3(a) is issued when no PAYE was deducted (for example, your earnings were below the tax threshold). The source codes and layout are identical; only an IRP5 will show tax paid under code 4102.

What does code 3601 mean on my IRP5? Code 3601 is your normal income – salary or wages for services rendered, subject to PAYE. It's usually the largest figure on the certificate and forms the core of your taxable income.

Why is there a separate code (3605) for my bonus? Code 3605 is for an "annual payment" such as a bonus or 13th cheque. It's coded separately for reporting, but there is no special bonus tax rate – the amount is added to your other income and taxed at your marginal rates, and any extra PAYE withheld in the bonus month is trued up on assessment.

What is code 3810 and why does it increase my tax? Code 3810 is the medical-scheme contribution your employer paid on your behalf, treated as a taxable fringe benefit and added to your income. It's offset by code 4005 (your own contribution as a deduction), so in practice you're only taxed on the portion you didn't personally fund.

What is code 4102 on my IRP5? Code 4102 is the PAYE (Pay-As-You-Earn) your employer already withheld from your salary and paid to SARS during the year. It's effectively pre-paid tax: it's deducted from your final liability on assessment, and if it's more than you owe, the difference is refunded.

What is code 4116? Code 4116 is the medical scheme fees tax credit (section 6A) that your employer already took into account when calculating your monthly PAYE. For the 2026 tax year it's R364/month for the main member, R364 for the first dependant and R246 for each additional dependant. It reduces tax, not income, and should still appear on your assessment.

Check your IRP5 figures

Knowing what each code means is step one. Step two is checking that the numbers actually produce the right tax – that your PAYE under 4102 lines up with what you really owe, and that your allowances and credits are working in your favour.

→ Check your IRP5 figures against your real tax – free, no signup, shows every step of the calculation.

SARS sources

SARS – Guide for Codes Applicable to Employees' Tax Certificates 2026 (PAYE-AE-06-G06) https://www.sars.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/Ops/Guides/PAYE-AE-06-G06-Guide-for-Codes-Applicable-to-Employees-Tax-Certificates-2026-External-Guide.pdf
SARS – Find a Source Code https://www.sars.gov.za/types-of-tax/personal-income-tax/filing-season/find-a-source-code/
SARS – PAYE Employer Reconciliation BRS (deduction and tax-credit code descriptions) https://www.sars.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/Docs/PAYE/BRS/SARS_PAYE_BRS-PAYE-Employer-Reconciliation_V20-0-0.pdf
SARS – Medical Tax Credit Rates https://www.sars.gov.za/tax-rates/medical-tax-credit-rates/
SARS – Rates of Tax for Individuals (2026 thresholds and rebates) https://www.sars.gov.za/tax-rates/income-tax/rates-of-tax-for-individuals/

Information correct for the 2026 year of assessment (1 March 2025 – 28 February 2026). This is general guidance, not tax advice for your specific circumstances. Source codes verified against the SARS Guide for Codes Applicable to Employees' Tax Certificates 2026 (effective 19 September 2025) and the SARS PAYE Employer Reconciliation BRS.