A South African contractor answers to SARS, the Compensation Fund, CIPC, the CIDB, National Treasury's CSD, possibly a bargaining council, and every client running a compliance check. The deadlines fall on unrelated cycles, nothing reminds you, and two of them — the COIDA Return of Earnings and the Letter of Good Standing renewal — cost you the ability to bid rather than merely a penalty.
Most contractors are not non-compliant on purpose. They are non-compliant because nobody has ever seen the whole calendar at once.
Which deadlines actually matter most?
Before the full list, the three that carry consequences beyond a penalty. If you diarise nothing else, diarise these.
| Deadline | When | Why it is different |
|---|---|---|
| COIDA Return of Earnings | Annually, by 31 March | No ROE means no Letter of Good Standing — which means no bidding |
| Letter of Good Standing renewal | Annually | An expired letter disqualifies a bid on closing day |
| Financial statements | Annually | They set your CIDB grade, which caps the size of work you may take |
Everything else on this page costs money when you get it wrong. These three cost you work.
The monthly cycle
| When | What | To whom |
|---|---|---|
| 7th of each month | EMP201 — PAYE, UIF and SDL for the previous month | SARS |
| Last business day | VAT201, if on a monthly cycle | SARS |
| Last business day of every second month | VAT201, if on the standard bi-monthly cycle | SARS |
| Monthly | Bargaining council contributions and levies, if you fall within a council's scope | The council |
| Monthly | Provident or pension remittances, where applicable | The fund |
| Monthly | Bank reconciliation, debtors, creditors, job costing | Yourself |
The 7th is the hardest date in the calendar to move, because it comes round twelve times a year and a single missed EMP201 begins the slide toward a non-compliant tax status — which then blocks the tax clearance you need for tenders and CSD.
The last row is not a statutory deadline and it matters as much as the ones that are. A contractor who reconciles monthly can file everything else quickly. A contractor who does not spends every deadline reconstructing.
The annual cycle
| When | What | To whom |
|---|---|---|
| By 31 March | COIDA Return of Earnings for the assessment year | Compensation Fund |
| After the ROE, before it lapses | Letter of Good Standing renewal | Compensation Fund |
| Annually | CIDB registration renewal | CIDB |
| Annually | CSD registration maintenance — details verified and current | National Treasury |
| Annually | B-BBEE affidavit re-commissioned, if an EME | Commissioner of Oaths |
| Within 6 months of year end | Annual financial statements | Yourself, CIDB, funders, SARS |
| 12 months after year end | ITR14 company income tax return | SARS |
| Anniversary month of incorporation | CIPC annual return and beneficial ownership | CIPC |
Note that these do not share a cycle. The ROE runs to 31 March. Your financial year end may be February, June or anything else. Your CIPC anniversary is the month you were incorporated. Your CIDB and CSD renewals run from their own registration dates. There is no month in which you can do all of this at once, which is exactly why a single calendar is necessary.
The twice-yearly cycle
| When | What | To whom |
|---|---|---|
| Within 6 months of year end | First provisional tax return (IRP6) | SARS |
| By year end | Second provisional tax return (IRP6) | SARS |
| Around September / October | EMP501 interim reconciliation | SARS |
| Around April / May | EMP501 annual reconciliation | SARS |
The EMP501 is the most commonly forgotten submission on this page. It is not a payment, so nothing bounces when it is missed. It simply turns your tax compliance status non-compliant, quietly, and you discover it when a tender asks for a tax clearance certificate.
See provisional tax explained and how to get a tax clearance certificate.
The event-driven items
These have no date. They are triggered, and the clock starts when the event happens — which is why they are missed more often than the dated ones.
| Event | What must happen | When |
|---|---|---|
| Director appointed or resigns | CoR39 at CIPC, and separately update SARS | Within 10 business days at CIPC |
| Registered address changes | CoR21.1 at CIPC, and separately update SARS, CSD, CIDB | Promptly |
| Shareholding changes | Beneficial ownership filing | Within 10 business days |
| New employee | PAYE and UIF registration on the payroll | Before first payment |
| Employee leaves | Termination, final payment, UI-19 | On termination |
| Workplace injury | Report to the Compensation Fund | Timeously — late reporting holds up your Letter of Good Standing |
| New subcontractor | Obtain COIDA registration proof and current Letter of Good Standing | Before they mobilise |
| Turnover passes R1m in 12 months | Compulsory VAT registration threshold considerations | Check against the current threshold |
"And separately update SARS" appears twice above, deliberately. CIPC and SARS hold separate records and neither updates the other. See why your SARS and CIPC records must match.
The subcontractor row is the one with the largest hidden exposure. An unregistered subcontractor's employees are deemed to be yours. See subcontractor COIDA liability.
What should the register look like?
One page, one owner, reviewed monthly. Not a system — a page.
| Item | Body | Last done | Next due | Owner | Evidence filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EMP201 | SARS | 7th monthly | |||
| VAT201 | SARS | ||||
| COIDA Return of Earnings | Comp Fund | 31 March | |||
| Letter of Good Standing | Comp Fund | ||||
| CIDB registration | CIDB | ||||
| CSD registration | Treasury | ||||
| Tax compliance status | SARS | Continuous | |||
| B-BBEE affidavit | Self | ||||
| CIPC annual return | CIPC | Anniversary | |||
| Beneficial ownership | CIPC | Anniversary | |||
| EMP501 | SARS | ×2 per year | |||
| Provisional tax | SARS | ×2 per year | |||
| Financial statements | — | ||||
| ITR14 | SARS | ||||
| Subcontractor letters | — | Per sub |
The "Owner" column is the one that makes the difference. A calendar with no name against each row is a list, and lists do not file anything. In most small contractors nobody has ever been formally given this job, which is precisely how three years of arrears accumulate in a business that is otherwise well run.
The "Evidence filed" column is the second most useful. When a client, a funder or a tender asks, you want the proof in one folder rather than in somebody's email.
How does this connect to winning work?
Directly, and it is worth stating plainly.
A public-sector bid typically requires CSD registration, tax compliance status, a B-BBEE affidavit or certificate, CIDB registration at the right grade, and a current COIDA Letter of Good Standing. Every one of those is downstream of something on this calendar.
Tax compliance status depends on every EMP201, VAT201, EMP501, IRP6 and ITR14
The Letter of Good Standing depends on the Return of Earnings
CIDB grade depends on financial statements and available capital
CSD depends on CIPC, SARS and bank records agreeing
So the calendar is not administration that competes with the business. It is the mechanism that keeps you eligible to bid, and it is the reason a well-run contractor can respond to a tender in three days while a competitor spends three weeks trying to get a tax clearance.
See what you need to bid on a government tender and construction payroll and compliance.
Frequently asked questions
When is the COIDA Return of Earnings due? Annually, by 31 March for the assessment year. It is the deadline that matters most for a contractor, because the Letter of Good Standing depends on it and the Letter of Good Standing is what lets you bid.
What is the most commonly missed deadline for contractors? The EMP501 reconciliation, twice a year. It involves no payment, so nothing bounces when it is missed — it simply turns tax compliance status non-compliant, which is discovered later when a tender needs a tax clearance certificate.
Do all these deadlines fall in the same month? No, and that is the difficulty. The ROE runs to 31 March, your financial year end is your own, your CIPC anniversary is your month of incorporation, and CIDB and CSD renew from their own registration dates.
Does updating CIPC update SARS? No. They hold separate records and neither updates the other. Every director change, address change and name change has to be filed at both, separately.
How quickly must a director change be filed? Within 10 business days at CIPC, on a CoR39 — and separately at SARS, which is a different process with its own timeline.
What happens if I report a workplace injury late? Timely reporting of accidents is one of the requirements for good standing with the Compensation Fund. Late reporting can hold up your Letter of Good Standing, which holds up your bidding.
Which deadline should I diarise first if I only do one? The COIDA Return of Earnings. Every other deadline costs a penalty. That one costs your Letter of Good Standing, and therefore your ability to tender.
Who should own this calendar? One named person, not a committee, reporting to the directors that each item has been filed. Most contractor compliance failures are ownership failures rather than capability failures.
The calendar is what keeps you eligible
Nobody loses a tender because they were bad at building. They lose it because a letter expired in a month when they were busy building, and nobody was watching the date.
Smartbook runs the compliance calendar for South African contractors — EMP201s and VAT201s on time, EMP501s twice a year, the Return of Earnings in before 31 March, the Letter of Good Standing renewed before it lapses, CIPC and CSD kept current, and financial statements prepared with your next CIDB grade in mind.
See monthly accounting plans →
Renew your Letter of Good Standing — R750 →
Last reviewed: 13 August 2026. Written by the Smartbook team — SAIPA and SAICA accredited, SARS registered tax practitioners. Filing dates and thresholds change from time to time — confirm current deadlines with SARS, the Compensation Fund, CIPC and the CIDB before relying on them. General guidance, not advice on your circumstances.
Primary sources: SARS · Compensation Fund, Department of Employment and Labour · CIPC · CIDB · Central Supplier Database