In April 2020, Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) introduced updates to the P45 Form and to the S01 Form for monthly statutory payroll tax remittance. In order to ensure ongoing compliance with Jamaican tax law, employers should be familiar with the new forms and how they will affect the payroll process.
Updated Form P45
In Jamaica, P45 forms must be submitted to TAJ when employees are laid off from their jobs. In addition to information about the employee, the P45 should contain details on emoluments such as any prerequisites paid and any statutory deductions from the employee’s wages to date.
The new Form P45, which came into effect in April, is designed to allow employers in Jamaica to provide information on laid-off employees to the government electronically. The electronic form also forms part of the validation process required by the recently introduced CARE programme which provides Covid-19 business support. Information related to redundancy is not included on the new P45 form and must be provided separately.
P45 submission: Employers must submit the new P45 via their eService PAYE account on TAJ’s Revenue Administration Information System (RAIS). TAJ also provides a template for P45 information submitted in relation to multiple employees.
The new P45 has been in effect for lay-offs from March 2020 onwards, and is essentially a response to the economic fall-out from coronavirus lockdown measures which may have affected employees from 10 March 2020.
Employers must give their employees 2 copies of their P45 but are no longer required to submit a physical copy to TAJ.
For more information on submitting a P45 form, employers in Jamaica should consult TAJ’s ‘How To’ guide - or contact the authority directly.
Updated Form S01
An updated Form S01 is also now in effect in Jamaica as another measure to support the CARE programme. The S01 Form is submitted by employers to notify TAJ of monthly statutory remittance payroll deductions from employee wages.
Like the new P45, the new S01 form has been in effect from March 2020 and for subsequent months.
Completing the S01 Form: The S01 form includes a Schedule which employers must complete with details of monthly emoluments, deductions, PAYE tax contributions, and other statutory contributions for all employees. S01 Forms must be completed and submitted to TAJ by the 14th of the month following the reporting month: April 14, for example, for the reporting month of May 2020.
Form S01 must be submitted to TAJ online - along with associated payments.
It is possible for employers to make their S01 payments prior to completing the form itself, and they may do so by creating a Payment Advice for the submission. TAJ hosts online resources to help employers complete their S01 submission, including an excel template for employers that need to upload data for a large number of employees.
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