ERROR: 'Monthly Calculated ETI (7004): If Year of Assessment (3025) is 2021...'

Summary

How to solve the SARS e@syFile™ Employer import error when importing an IRP5/IT3a payroll file from Sage VIP Classic, and Sage VIP Premier. The error relates to Employment Tax Incentive (ETI) sets revert back from three to one due to system error.

Description

The error messages indicates the ETI infomration included in the import file. Here is a breakdown to explain the error message.

EXAMPLE:

Monthly Calculated ETI (7004): If Year of Assessment (3025) is 2021 and ETI Month (7006) is 04, 05, 06 or 07 and ETI qualifying 12 month cycle indicator (7005) is 1 or 2, then value MUST be greater than zero (0.00), (YoA3025=2021, 7004=750.00, ETI Month 7006=07, Age=40, 7009=NOT COMPLETED

3025 - Year of Assessment (2021)
7004 - ETI amount calculated on the payroll
7005 - ETI qualifying cycle (1 - first 12 months qualified, 2 - second12 months, and 3 for additional relief periods from April to July 2020
7006 - ETI month (1 = January, 2 = February, 3 = March, 4 = April, 5 = May, 6 = June, 7 = July, 8 = August)
7009 - Special Economic Zone (SEZ) code

Cause

The issue is related to records where the ETI set should have been 3, but was changed to 1. The cause of the issue is still under investigation.

The issue had been found mainly on records where employees previously qualified 24 periods for ETI, prior to the additional leave months.

Resolution

The solution to resolve the error, is to correct the ETI periods using the ETI Take-on function. Follow the steps below to correct the Set values.

Step 1: Identify the employee from the Import Payroll File Log on SARS e@syFile

When a payroll IRP5 file is imported but rejected, the errors are logged on the Import Payroll File Log.
The log will indicate the employee tax certificate records affected
The error message will indicate which calendar month is causing the error (in this example, the month is July):

Step 2: Export the ETI History from the payroll

To review the ETI information for the past 6 months of your employees, export the ETI History report for 2020.
Click here for a guide how to export the report to Microsoft Excel.

Step 3: Review the ETI Record an correct the Set values and ETI amount (if necessary)

Add Filters to the heading row on the Excel sheet (Select the 1st row in the Excel sheet which contains the headings, click on Data, and then click on Filter).
Filter the data by clicking on the heading of column B, which contains the Employee code. This will allow you to find the specific employee records with the issue.
Review the employee's ETI Set (which could be 1, 2, or 3) in column P and Period (1-12) in column Q - If the employee qualified for 24 month prior to April 2020, or became a qualifying employee based on the the Additional Relief rules, the set from April should be 3.
If found that the Set changed from 3 to 1 in any period during Month April, May, June or July (as in the example below) , the record must be updated with the correct Set number in Column P.

If you change the Set from 1 to 3, please review the Tax Incentive value, to verify if the calculated value is correct. Click here to review the ETI Calculation information.
If the Wage Code is set to #001 during the months of May, June and July, you will need to create a new Wage Code, with the same values. Click here for a guide to create a new Wage Code. All employees with Wage Code #001 (column M) must be changed to the new Wage Code created.

Step 4: Save and import ETI Take-on file

Once the changed have been made the file should by saved in Excel format.
After you have saved it in Excel format, delete column AE to AL, for the End of Record marker moves to column AE.
Save the file in CSV comma delimited format.
Import the CSV file into your payroll, which will overwrite the existing ETI history data.
Click here for more details to create an ETI take-on file.

Step 5: Import EMP501 to confirm if ETI values changed

Generate the EMP501 report from your History Reports, and review your values.
Click here for a guide to export the EMP501 report.

Step 6: Export the Test Run file again, and import into SARS e@syFile

Click here for a guide to export the Test run with the IRP5/IT3a Report.
When your Test file imports successfully, you can continue to generate your Live Run to import into SARS e@syFile.

To further assist you with this error we have created an extraction tool.

For information on the ETI Validation Export: New ETI Take-on option for Sage Classic and Sage Premier is now available please click here

Solution Properties

Solution ID: 200915133927317
Last Modified Date: Thu Apr 09 04:36:14 UTC 2026
Views: 0