What is Code 4102 on a South African IRP5?
The PAYE deduction code — what it means, how to verify it against your payslips, and what to do if the figure on your IRP5 looks wrong.
4102 Code 4102 is the total PAYE income tax your employer deducted from your salary and paid to SARS on your behalf during the tax year. It is the sum of all your monthly PAYE deductions and appears on your IRP5 certificate as a deduction code.
What Code 4102 Means
Code 4102 sits in the 4000 deduction series — the section of your IRP5 that records amounts withheld from your pay and paid to SARS or a third party on your behalf. Specifically, 4102 is the PAYE code: Pay-As-You-Earn income tax collected by your employer each month and remitted to SARS via the EMP201 monthly declaration.
Every month your employer calculates the PAYE due on your taxable income, deducts it from your gross salary before paying you, and pays it directly to SARS. At year-end, your employer totals all 12 monthly PAYE amounts and reports the combined figure as code 4102 on your IRP5. This is the tax that SARS has already received before you file a single document.
Code 4102 is one of the most important figures on your IRP5 because it directly determines whether your annual tax assessment results in a refund or a balance due. Understanding it helps you predict your eFiling outcome before you submit.
How Code 4102 Affects Your Tax Return
When you file your annual income tax return, SARS calculates your actual tax liability for the year based on all your income sources and deductions. It then compares that liability to your code 4102 — the tax already paid:
- Code 4102 > actual liability — SARS owes you a refund. This commonly happens when you contribute to a retirement annuity directly (not via payroll), or when your medical aid credits exceed what your employer factored in.
- Code 4102 < actual liability — you owe SARS the difference. This can happen if you had additional income outside your employment, such as rental income or freelance work, that was not subject to PAYE.
- Code 4102 = actual liability — your account balances with SARS. This is common when PAYE has been calculated accurately throughout the year with no additional income or deductions.
Use the PAYE Calculator to estimate your expected annual PAYE and compare it to the code 4102 on your IRP5.
Example — Verifying Your Code 4102
Here is how code 4102 flows from monthly payslip to your annual IRP5, using an employee earning R30,000 gross per month with no salary changes during the 2026/2027 tax year.
| Month | Gross Salary (Code 3601) | Monthly PAYE (Code 4102 portion) |
|---|---|---|
| March 2026 – February 2027 (×12) | R30,000 × 12 = R360,000 | R4,730 × 12 = R56,757 |
| IRP5 Annual Total | Code 3601: R360,000 | Code 4102: R56,757 |
To verify your own code 4102: add the PAYE line from each monthly payslip. The total should match the code 4102 figure on your IRP5. A difference of more than a few rand warrants a conversation with your payroll team.
How to Check if Your Code 4102 is Correct
Frequently Asked Questions
What does code 4102 mean on my IRP5?
Code 4102 is the total PAYE income tax your employer deducted from your salary and paid to SARS on your behalf during the tax year. It represents the sum of all your monthly PAYE deductions from 1 March to 28 February and is a deduction code in the 4000 series.
Should code 4102 equal my total monthly PAYE deductions added up?
Yes, in most cases. Add up the PAYE line on each of your 12 monthly payslips — the total should match your IRP5 code 4102. Small differences can occur if your salary changed during the year or if your employer made a mid-year adjustment, but significant discrepancies should be investigated with your payroll department.
Why is my code 4102 different from what I expected?
Common reasons include a salary increase or decrease during the year, a bonus that temporarily pushed you into a higher tax bracket, changes to your medical aid or RA contributions affecting the PAYE calculation, or a payroll correction. Check each monthly payslip against the IRP5 total to identify where the difference arose.
Does code 4102 affect my tax refund or amount owed?
Yes, directly. Code 4102 is the tax SARS has already received. When you file, SARS compares your actual tax liability to code 4102. If 4102 is more than your liability, you get a refund. If less, you owe the difference. Medical aid credits (code 4474) and RA deductions frequently cause refunds by reducing your final liability below what 4102 shows.
What if code 4102 on my IRP5 is wrong?
Contact your employer's payroll department immediately and request a corrected IRP5. Do not file your tax return using incorrect figures. If your employer does not correct it, contact SARS via eFiling or at a service branch. Filing with incorrect figures can lead to an incorrect assessment that costs you money or triggers a SARS query.
Is code 4102 the same as SITE?
No. SITE (Standard Income Tax on Employees) was a separate withholding tax system that SARS phased out in 2012. Since then, all employee tax withheld at source falls under PAYE and is reported as code 4102. References to SITE in older payroll documents relate to the pre-2012 system only.
Related Payslip Codes
Full explainers for codes 4101 and 4474 coming soon.