Pay As You Earn

All employers are required to submit to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) their employees’ monthly and yearly Pay As You Earn (PAYE) amounts using the Form 2 and 5 respectively.  With the upgrade of its Tax Administration software and eServices platform, the GRA now offers a revamped facility to upload and manage your PAYE submissions online.  This document serves to guide you on how to create the electronic file for upload to eServices.

For employers who have in the past electronically submitted PAYE Returns, please note that there are a few slight changes to the format of the data.

Process

For employers desirous of submitting the electronic data, the submission process will be as follows:

  • The employer will prepare the data in the prescribed format and upload same to GRA’s eServices using their online account or through a tax agent. An employer should only submit one file per month or year (as appropriate).
  • Once successfully submitted, you will receive an email that will inform you whether the submission passed the validity checks. If the file has errors, review and correct as much as possible before resubmitting. In cases where issues with the TIN cannot be resolved, leave the TIN field blank. When all the issues are resolved, you will receive an email indicating that the submission was successful.

File Requirements

The electronic file must be provided in a comma separated values (csv) format with a comma used as the separator. Each row must include all fields even if no data is provided.

A row represents the earnings and other details of an employee over the return period.  If, for example, an employee worked two stints at the employer during the year, these must be summarised so that there is one record/row for the employee.

The name of the file should follow the pattern:

paye-[Employer Name]-[YYYY].csv                                          e.g., paye-Guysuco-2020.csv

There should be no spaces in the file name.

Use the PAYE form validator to review and make corrections to your file before you submit. Click HERE to access the validator.

The table below explains the new electronic format for the electronic file submission:

Row 2 to n

Column No. Name Description
1 TIN Employee’s Taxpayer Identification Number.  Please ensure that this is the correct TIN for your employee as incorrect TIN can result in XXXXXX.
2 Employee_Number Your internal employee number, if one exists.
3 First_Name Employee’s First Name.  If an employee only has one name, enter it in the Last_Name column.
4 Last_Name Employee’s Last Name.  If an employee only has one name, enter it here.
5 Other_Names Employee’s middle names or other names.
6 Address Employee’s current address.
7 Pay_Frequency Indicate whether employee was daily, weekly or monthly paid.

 

The allowable values are: Daily, Weekly, Monthly.
8 Period_Employed Using the Pay_Frequency indicated, specify the total number of days, weeks or months an employee worked with you for the month or year (as appropriate).

 

If an employee worked for only a part of the month/year then adjust accordingly using their employment start and/or end dates.
9 Employee_Type Whether employee was either Full- or Part-Time.

 

The allowable values are: Full-Time, Part-Time.
10 Value_7A Total salaries, wages, commissions, overtime or other emoluments payable for the period.

Do not include any commas or other separators in the number.  Do not include cents.
11 Value_7B Total value of any residence quarters board and lodging for the period.

Do not include any commas or other separators in the number.  Do not include cents.
12 Value_7C_Taxable  

Total other taxable allowances in kind received by employee for the period.

Do not include any commas or other separators in the number.  Do not include cents.
13 Value_7C_Non_Taxable Total other non-taxable allowances in kind received by employee for the period.

Do not include any commas or other separators in the number.  Do not include cents.
14 Total_Income Total income employee earned for the period.

Do not include any commas or other separators in the number.  Do not include cents.
15 Personal_Allowance The tax/statutory allowance granted to employee for the period.

Do not include any commas or other separators in the number.  Do not include cents.
16 Employee_NIS_Contribution The employee’s gross National Insurance Scheme (NIS) Employee Contribution based on Gross Earnings.
Do not include any commas or other separators in the number.  Do not include cents.
17 Medical_Life_Insurance_Premiums_Deduction The employee’s personal medical and life insurance premiums that were paid, limited to 10% of Gross Salary or $30,000 per month, whichever is lower.

Do not include any commas or other separators in the number.  Do not include cents.
18 Total_Deductions Sum the Personal_Allowance, Employee_NIS_Contribution and Medical_Life_Insurance_Premium values.

Do not include any commas or other separators in the number.  Do not include cents.
19 Tax_Deducted The total Tax Deducted for the period.

 

Do not include any commas or other separators in the number.  Do not include cents.
20 Date_Of_Birth The employee’s date of birth in the format of YYYY-MM-DD.

Last Row

Column No. Name Description
1 TIN Employer’s Taxpayer Identification Number.
2 Employee_Number Leave blank
3 First_Name Employer’s Name.
4 Last_Name Leave blank
5 Other_Names (Month of Income/) Year of Income

 

If the return is a Form 2, enter the year of the Return. However, if the Return is a Form 5, enter the month (1-12) followed by a ‘/’ and the year (yyyy).
6 Address Employer’s registered address.
7 Pay_Frequency Leave blank
8 Period_Employed Total number of employees submitted (listed in the file).
9 Employee_Type Leave blank
10 Value_7A Total 7A amount.

 

Do not include any commas or other separators in the number.  Do not include cents.
11 Value_7B Total 7B amount.

 

Do not include any commas or other separators in the number.  Do not include cents.
12 Value_7C_Taxable  

Total taxable 7C amount.

 

Do not include any commas or other separators in the number.  Do not include cents.
13 Value_7C_Non_Taxable Total non-taxable 7C amount.

 

Do not include any commas or other separators in the number.  Do not include cents.
14 Total_Income Total income for all employees.

 

Do not include any commas or other separators in the number.  Do not include cents.
15 Personal_Allowance Total tax/statutory allowance granted to all employees.

 

Do not include any commas or other separators in the number.  Do not include cents.
16 Employee_NIS_Contribution Total NIS Employee Contributions for all employees.

 

Do not include any commas or other separators in the number.  Do not include cents.
17 Total_Deductions Total deductions for all employees.

 

Do not include any commas or other separators in the number.  Do not include cents.
18 Tax_Deducted The total Tax Deducted for all employees.

 

Do not include any commas or other separators in the number.  Do not include cents.
19 Date_Of_Birth Leave blank

Important

Employers should be mindful of potential areas for errors – some are listed below. These errors can be significant and lead not only to delays in processing of the returns but also to incorrect updating of their employees’ tax records.

– mismatched TINs with employee’s names and addresses

– incorrect TINs stored in a HR/Payroll computerised system

– incorrect amounts and TINs entered/generated in the electronic files for submission

– incorrect employer TIN entered

If you’re still experiencing issues uploading your PAYE submissions, use the PAYE form validator to review and make corrections to your file before you submit.

Click HERE to access the validator.