COIDA Return of Earnings: The Annual Filing Every Employer Must Make
The Return of Earnings is the one COIDA task that comes back every single year — and the one whose absence quietly breaks everything else: your assessment estimate balloons, your account falls out of good standing, and the Letter of Good Standing your tender needs becomes unobtainable. This guide covers the window, the numbers, the filing process, and how to fix missed years.
- ✔The ROE window is fixed: 1 April to 31 May every year.
- ✔You declare actual earnings for 1 March to end February, plus an estimate for the year ahead.
- ✔The assessment is earnings ÷ 100 × your industry tariff — accurate payroll records make it painless.
- ✔No filing means an estimated assessment, penalties, interest — and no Letter of Good Standing.
- ✔Zero employees this year? File a nil return — silence is treated as default.
What the Return of Earnings is — and the dates that matter
The ROE (form W.As.8) tells the Compensation Fund what you paid in employee earnings over the assessment year, which runs 1 March to the last day of February. You file it during the annual window of 1 April to 31 May, declaring the actual earnings for the year just ended and an estimate for the year ahead. The Fund then raises your assessment: actual earnings ÷ 100 × your class tariff, reconciled against the estimate you filed last year.
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 Mar – end Feb | Assessment year — the earnings period you will declare |
| 1 Apr | ROE filing window opens |
| 31 May | ROE deadline — file before this date |
| After filing | Assessment invoice issued, reconciling estimate vs actual |
| 30 days from invoice | Pay the assessment (or arrange instalments) to stay in good standing |
The date sits between two other big filings — EMP501 (31 May) and CIPC annual returns — which is why the full year’s obligations belong on one employer compliance calendar rather than in memory.
What counts as earnings on the Return of Earnings
‘Earnings’ for the ROE is broadly what you pay people to work: salaries, wages, overtime, commission, bonuses and most allowances. There is a maximum earnings cap per employee per year (adjusted periodically) above which earnings stop counting for assessment — high earners do not inflate your assessment without limit.
- Include: salaries and wages, overtime, commission, bonuses, most cash allowances, casual and seasonal pay.
- Exclude: genuine expense reimbursements and payments to true independent contractors.
- Directors: the treatment of directors’ remuneration follows specific COIDA rules — get this right if you pay yourself a director’s salary.
- Cap: per-employee earnings above the annual maximum are excluded from the assessment base.
If your payroll records are clean, the ROE is a thirty-minute job: run the annual earnings report, declare, submit. If payroll lives in a shoebox, the ROE is the annual reminder that proper payslips and records are not bureaucracy — they are what makes every other filing possible.
Filing the Return of Earnings step by step
Missed years and late Returns of Earnings
Miss the window and three things happen: the Fund estimates your earnings (usually upward), penalties and interest attach to the resulting assessment, and your good standing lapses — blocking the Letter of Good Standing until the account is regularised. Miss several years and the catch-up is a project: returns for each outstanding year, assessments on each, then payment or arrangement.
A dormant employer or a year with no payroll still requires a nil ROE. Employers de-registered or suspended for non-filing face reactivation admin exactly when a tender deadline is looming.
Admin Boss files ROEs for clients as a standing annual service (RMA returns at R450, Fund returns quoted), and runs multi-year catch-ups for businesses regularising before a tender. If the Letter of Good Standing is the goal, the ROE is the gate — see the COIDA pillar guide for the whole picture.
- Department of Employment & Labour — ROE filing
- Compensation Fund online services
- COIDA — Act 130 of 1993
Always confirm current requirements with the official source — rules and deadlines change.
- ✔COIDA Return of Earnings — request a quote
- ✔RMA Return of Earnings — R450
- ✔Get your Letter of Good Standing back
Frequently asked questions
When is the COIDA Return of Earnings due?
Every year between 1 April and 31 May, declaring actual employee earnings for the assessment year that runs 1 March to end February, plus an estimate for the year ahead.
What happens if I miss the ROE deadline?
The Fund estimates your earnings — typically upward — raises an assessment on that estimate, and adds penalties and interest. Your good standing lapses, blocking your Letter of Good Standing until the return is filed and the account settled.
Do I file a Return of Earnings if I had no employees this year?
Yes — file a nil return. A missing return is treated as non-compliance regardless of whether any earnings were paid, and dormancy without nil filings leads to suspension admin later.
Which earnings do I declare on the ROE?
Salaries, wages, overtime, commission, bonuses and most allowances paid between 1 March and end February, subject to a per-employee annual maximum. Genuine expense reimbursements and true contractor payments are excluded.
Last reviewed: July 2026 · How we research our guides
EmployerGuide.online provides general information about South African employer obligations — not legal, tax or professional advice for your specific situation. Laws, rates and deadlines change; confirm current requirements with the official sources linked above, or ask Admin Boss. See our disclaimer.