The Employment Tax Incentive ("ETI") programme was introduced in January 2014 to promote employment for young workers. The programme's main aim is to reduce the cost of hiring young people between 18 and 29 through a cost-sharing mechanism with the Government.

This is achieved by allowing the employer to reduce the amount of Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) they pay to the South African Revenue Service ("SARS") while leaving the wage received by the qualifying employees unaffected.

In recent periods it has come to the Government's attention that some taxpayers have devised specific schemes where they claim the ETI regarding individuals who do not meet the definition of an employee as envisioned in the ETI Act.

Read more in our latest article.