Individuals earning income from multiple sources, including employed pensioners, company directors, professionals and high-net-worth individuals, have been urged to ensure that all their earnings are properly declared to the Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS) ahead of the November 30, 2026 income tax filing deadline.
The call was made during the ERS Tax Talk programme on Eswatini TV, where Director Communications and Marketing Ntobeko Manana and Taxpayer Education and Information Manager Cebilenkhosi Mahlalela outlined the categories of individuals expected to submit annual income tax returns for the 2025/2026 year of assessment.
The assessment period covers income earned between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026. Mahlalela said the filing obligation extended beyond individuals in conventional employment to include company directors, board members, Members of Parliament, trustees and people who earned income from multiple sources during the assessment period.
She also identified pensioners who receive additional income apart from their pension, emabandla, partners in partnerships and professionals such as legal practitioners and doctors as among those expected to file.
Mahlalela said individuals could establish whether they were required to file by considering whether they had received taxable income, including directors’ fees, during the year of assessment. She encouraged taxpayers to consult the filing notice available on the ERS social media platforms and website to establish whether their categories were included.
However, Manana clarified that not every employed person was required to submit an annual income tax return. She explained that employees earning a single income that was fully taxed through the final deduction system were generally not expected to file, as their employers deducted Pay As You Earn (PAYE) from their salaries monthly and remitted it to the ERS.
This also applied to employees who changed employers during the assessment period, provided their income had been correctly taxed. Individuals whose additional dividend income was subject to withholding tax were also generally not expected to file under the circumstances she described. Manana encouraged employees to take an interest in how their employers handled their tax deductions by requesting annual tax certificates, commonly known as IRP5 documents.
She explained that these certificates provided details of employees’ earnings, benefits received and taxes deducted and remitted to the ERS, allowing them to verify whether their employers had fulfilled their obligations. For individuals required to file, Mahlalela said the process began with registering as a taxpayer with the ERS and collecting the necessary supporting documents.
These include employee tax certificates, withholding tax certificates where applicable, financial information statements and evidence supporting other income and allowable claims. She emphasised that individuals earning income from different sources were expected to declare all relevant earnings rather than account for only their primary employment income. Manana said supporting documents had to be scanned and attached electronically through the ERS filing platform, as the process was paperless.
Mahlalela stressed that returns had to be submitted electronically through eFiling, warning that submissions through other channels would be regarded as non-compliance. Taxpayers experiencing difficulties accessing the platform because of limited access to devices could visit ERS service centres and use the available kiosks. The two officials also reminded taxpayers that November 30, 2026 was both the return submission and payment deadline. Manana said submitting a return without paying the tax due did not complete the filing process.
Taxpayers can settle their obligations through electronic funds transfers using local banks, bank cash deposits, Mobile Money (MoMo) and card payments at ERS service centres. They were urged to use the correct payment reference when making transactions.
The ERS encouraged eligible individuals to file early to allow sufficient time to review their declarations and correct any errors before the deadline, while ensuring that all taxable income was accurately accounted for.
