[Question] When should a company register me as an employee with SARS?

[stellenboscher]

I am a contract worker that invoice companies after the work I do for them.
Some companies make me sign a basic employment contract before a job, not containing payment rates or tax specifics.

One of the companies I do regular work for in 2013 started deducting tax from my payments (they did not use to).

I can not get payslips out of them, only "invoices", and when I contacted SARS they said this company has not yet paid tax into my profile or registered me as someone who is doing work for them.

I understand the law has changed in regards to companies deducting tax from freelancers and contract workers, but I do not trust this company.

When should this company let SARS know I do work for them? And what can I do to get proper payslips from them?

[desA]

A thought - You take the bull by the horns & write everything down for SARS.

Give them copies of the invoices to this company, where tax was deducted. Ask them to sort out the matter for you.

If this still does not work out, then report a TAX CRIME via the SARS internet link. If you feel you may be persecuted, then ask for protection via the Whistleblower's Act.

[sterne.law@gmail.com]

There is a difference between a contractor and an employee on a number of frontiers.
By the sounds of it, you are a genuine contractor. The client should not give you an employment contract but rather a contractor.
It does however sound as if you might to a project type job. Ex, 3 months with company A and then 2 mths with company B. If this is a case, you may fall under employee and they should put you on a fixed term contract.
If you are an employee, fixed term included, then employee tax must be deducted.
If you are a contractor then you must register as a provisional tax payer and pay your tax.

What may be happening is some dodgy dealings -
Lets say my deal is R5000 per month. The client then says he must withhold 25% tax and pays R3750 and never pays the tax over, because he did not have to tax you. Its a big saving. It is of course fraud.
Perhaps the first step is to work out what was deducted. You know what you invoiced and what you got paid. The difference is your 'tax'. See if it is correct according to tax tables.

[Dave A]

I can not get payslips out of them, only "invoices", and when I contacted SARS they said this company has not yet paid tax into my profile or registered me as someone who is doing work for them.

They could still be paying over the PAYE deducted though. Ultimately SARS is only informed as to what the PAYE payments were for when the IRP5's are submitted with the EMP501 return.

The time to panic is if you don't get an IRP5 from the company by the end of the employers EMP501 filing season.