What is Code 4584 on a South African IRP5?
Employer Bargaining Council contributions explained — why this code isn't a retirement fund entry, and why it usually doesn't get the same tax offset as codes 3817 and 3825.
4584Code 4584 mirrors your employer's contribution to a Bargaining Council fund made for your benefit — usually a sick pay or holiday fund run by an industry bargaining council, not a pension or provident fund. It must equal the fringe benefit value under code 3833 (or 3883 for foreign service income). Valid from the 2020 year of assessment, it is a reconciliation entry, not an automatic tax deduction — the Section 11F retirement offset does not apply here.
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What Code 4584 Means
Code 4584 sits on the deductions section of your IRP5, and its value must always match the taxable fringe benefit reported under code 3833 (or code 3883 if you're earning foreign service income). Both codes cover employer contributions to a Bargaining Council fund made on your behalf — most commonly a sick pay fund, a holiday fund, or a similar collectively-bargained benefit scheme administered by an industry bargaining council. SARS introduced both codes from the 2020 year of assessment.
Bargaining councils are industry-specific bodies registered under the Labour Relations Act — examples include councils covering clothing manufacturing, motor retail and repair, road freight, and civil engineering. Where a council-administered benefit fund exists and the employer contributes to it, that contribution is a taxable fringe benefit to the employee, reported through this code pair.
SARS's guidance is explicit: this provision "is not applicable to contributions made to a pension or provident fund." That distinction matters. Employer pension and provident contributions (codes 3817 and 3825) are added to taxable income but then largely cancelled out by the Section 11F retirement deduction. Code 4584 has no equivalent general offset — it mirrors the fringe benefit value for IRP5 reconciliation, but does not by itself reduce your taxable income.
Why This Code Looks Different From 3817 and 3825
If you've compared this page with our guides to code 3817 (employer pension contribution) or code 3825 (employer provident contribution), you'll notice those pages describe a fringe benefit that usually nets to zero PAYE impact, because Section 11F lets you deduct the same amount again. Code 4584 doesn't work that way. Because Bargaining Council benefit funds aren't retirement funds, the contribution genuinely adds to your taxable income without an automatic matching relief — so it's worth checking your payslip if you work in a bargaining council-covered industry and see this line item appear.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does code 4584 mean on my IRP5?
Code 4584 reports your employer's contribution to a Bargaining Council fund made for your benefit — typically a sick pay fund, holiday fund or similar collectively-bargained benefit fund run by an industry bargaining council. It is valid from the 2020 year of assessment and must always equal the fringe benefit value reported under code 3833 (or 3883 for foreign service income).
Is code 4584 the same as a retirement fund contribution?
No. SARS explicitly excludes pension and provident fund contributions from this provision. Bargaining Council contributions are for industry-specific benefit funds — sick pay, holiday pay or similar — not retirement savings. This matters because the Section 11F retirement fund deduction, which typically offsets employer pension and provident contributions (codes 3817 and 3825), does not apply to code 4584.
Does code 4584 reduce my PAYE?
Not automatically. Unlike employer retirement fund contributions, which are added to income under codes 3817/3825 and then largely deducted back out under Section 11F, there is no equivalent general deduction for Bargaining Council contributions. Code 4584 mirrors the taxable fringe benefit value on the deductions section of the IRP5 for reconciliation purposes, but it does not by itself reduce your taxable income the way a retirement contribution does.
Who is likely to see code 4584 on their payslip?
Employees in industries covered by a registered bargaining council — such as clothing manufacturing, motor retail and repair, road freight and civil engineering — where the council administers a sick pay, holiday or similar benefit fund funded partly or wholly by the employer. Employees outside a bargaining council-covered sector will not see this code.
What is the foreign-service version of this code?
Code 3883 is the fringe benefit sub-code used only for foreign service income, paired with the same code 4584 on the deductions side. Both versions were introduced from the 2020 year of assessment and follow the identical rule that the deduction-side value must equal the fringe benefit value.