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The Skills Development Levy (SDL) is a monthly tax of 1% of your total payroll, paid to SARS by every employer whose annual payroll exceeds R500,000[1]. It is not a sunk cost: by submitting a compliant Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) and Annual Training Report (ATR) to your SETA, you can claim a mandatory grant of up to 20% of the levy back[2], access discretionary grants, and count the same training towards the B-BBEE skills-development element. This guide explains how the levy works, how to recover it, and where BOTI training fits in.
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Add a certificate to your CV with BOTI e-learning: 142 self-paced online courses – Excel, Word, project management, customer service and more – from R595 (excl. VAT) with 6 months’ access.
See the e-learning courses
Rather have your employer pay? Here’s how to ask
Training your staff?
BOTI is accredited by the QCTO (Quality Council for Trades and Occupations) as a skills development provider, and is a Level 1 B-BBEE (Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment) contributor. Plan the training in your Workplace Skills Plan and count it towards your B-BBEE skills development score.
Get a quote for your team
BOTI is accredited by the QCTO (Quality Council for Trades and Occupations) as a skills development provider, and is a Level 1 B-BBEE (Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment) contributor. Plan the training in your Workplace Skills Plan and count it towards your B-BBEE skills development score.
Get a quote for your team
If your question is how to claim the skills development levy back, the six steps below take you from SDL registration with SARS to the 30 April SETA deadline, and the FAQ covers how much you can recover, where the levy money goes and why the levy is 1% of payroll, not 10%. If your SDF, trainers or assessors need upskilling, see BOTI’s train-the-trainer and ETDP courses.
If you pay the levy every month but never see a cent come back, you lose out twice: on the mandatory grant of up to 20% of your levy, and on the B-BBEE skills-development element (measured against 6% of the leviable amount[3]) that the same training could count towards, which can affect tender positioning. The recovery mechanism is well-defined, and the training you already need to run is exactly what releases it.
This article is mainly for South African organisations developing their own staff, and the FAQ also answers the levy questions students and job-seekers ask. It is written for the people who own the payroll, the compliance and the training budget: HR and L&D managers who own the WSP and ATR; finance and payroll leads who pay the levy through SARS each month; business owners and MDs of SMEs above the R500,000 threshold; Skills Development Facilitators (SDFs) responsible for the SETA submission; and operations managers whose team training feeds the plan. If you sign off the payroll or the training budget, the levy is your money to recover.
How the Skills Development Levy works
The SDL was introduced by the Skills Development Levies Act to fund skills development across the economy. Here is the mechanism in plain terms:
| Element | How it works |
|---|---|
| Who pays | Employers with an annual payroll (leviable amount) above R500,000[1] |
| The rate | 1% of total monthly payroll (the leviable amount)[1] |
| How it is paid | Monthly to SARS via the EMP201 return, alongside PAYE and UIF |
| Where it goes | SARS collects it and distributes it to the relevant SETAs and the National Skills Fund |
| Your SETA | Each employer is allocated to a SETA based on its main business activity |
| What you get back | Mandatory and discretionary grants — if you submit a compliant WSP and ATR |
The key point is that the levy you pay is not lost. A large share flows to your SETA, and a portion of that is reserved to be paid back to you as grants — provided you complete the reporting that lets the SETA release it.
How to claim the Skills Development Levy back
Recovering the levy follows a clear annual cycle. Each step is straightforward once the structure is in place:
- Confirm your SDL registration and SETA. Make sure you are registered for SDL with SARS and allocated to the correct SETA for your sector.
- Appoint and register a Skills Development Facilitator (SDF). SETAs require a registered SDF — internal or outsourced — to submit your plan.
- Build your Workplace Skills Plan (WSP). Set out the training your staff will receive over the year, broken down by occupational level, race, gender and disability.
- Deliver and record the training. Run the planned courses and keep attendance registers and certificates as evidence.
- Compile the Annual Training Report (ATR). Report the training that actually happened against the previous year’s plan.
- Submit to your SETA by 30 April.[2] Capture the WSP and ATR on your SETA’s system to claim the mandatory grant — there is no extension for late submissions.
Done well, this turns the levy from a deduction into a funded training budget that pays for staff development every year.
Paying the levy but never claiming it back? Request a quote. Phone 011-882-8853 or use the BOTI booking page. Ask us to help you map your route from levy to grant.
How BOTI training fits your levy recovery
Your grant claim is only as strong as the training behind it. BOTI helps in two ways: credit-bearing qualifications from our accredited catalogue — BOTI is an accredited training provider (Services SETA 12582 and a QCTO-accredited Skills Development Provider), with NQF-level outcomes, assessment and moderation that produce the verifiable evidence your WSP, ATR and B-BBEE scorecard need (legacy SETA unit-standard qualifications are migrating to the new QCTO system, so please confirm current accreditation when you book); and practical, facilitator-led skills programmes for fast, targeted capability where credits are not the goal — delegates receive a BOTI certificate of attendance, still captured in your ATR as completed staff development. Tell us your reporting objective and we will recommend the right structure.
Our skills development training helps you plan and structure the WSP and ATR, so the training you run is the training you can report and claim against.
Delivery formats and national reach
How you deliver affects both cost and how cleanly training captures into your reporting:
- In-house / on-site at your premises — usually the most cost-effective option for a group, with attendance records built around your team.
- Off-site at BOTI’s venue in Sunningdale, Johannesburg — for teams that prefer to train away from daily interruptions.
- Virtual / remote instructor-led — efficient for distributed teams across multiple sites, with no travel cost.
BOTI (Business Optimization Training Institute) delivers across Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria, with remote delivery nationwide. Per-delegate cost falls as group size grows, so in-house delivery is typically most economical once you have several people to train.
Funding: turn the levy you already pay into a training budget
A compliant WSP and ATR turn the levy into money you can recover and training you can report. As general guidance only:
- The SDL is 1% of payroll for employers with a leviable amount above R500,000 a year[1].
- Submit a compliant WSP and ATR and you can claim a mandatory grant of up to 20% of your levy back[2], plus apply for discretionary grants (such as learnerships, bursaries and internships) for further training.
- The B-BBEE skills-development target is measured against 6% of the leviable amount[3] — not 6% of payroll — so well-planned training (with accredited, credit-bearing programmes scoring most strongly) can also count towards your transformation scorecard.
Where training supports tenders, note that the Preferential Procurement Regulations, 2022, made under the PPPFA, score “specific goals” — such as HDI ownership (race, gender and disability) and RDP objectives — rather than a generic B-BBEE level. The Public Procurement Act 28 of 2024 never came into force, and on 17 September 2026 the Constitutional Court declared the whole Act invalid[4]; public procurement still runs under the PFMA, the MFMA, the PPPFA and the Preferential Procurement Regulations, 2022, and Parliament may pass a new procurement law. A clean skills-development record supports both your scorecard and your bid positioning. This is general information, not financial or legal advice — confirm specifics with your SETA, SDF or B-BBEE verification professional.
Why BOTI
BOTI is an accredited training provider — Services SETA 12582 and a QCTO-accredited Skills Development Provider — a South African corporate training provider with 450 courses and a client base that includes Sasol, Glencore and the City of Johannesburg. We deliver practical, benefit-led training for whole teams and help structure it so your WSP and ATR hold up and your levy comes back. Most clients pair levy recovery with related programmes and resources:
- Skills development training — to plan and structure your WSP and ATR around accredited delivery.
- Skills Development Facilitator (SDF) training — to train the person who owns and submits your claim.
- Accredited course catalogue — credit-bearing, SETA/QCTO-aligned options for your Workplace Skills Plan.
- In-house and on-site training — group delivery with clean attendance records, usually the most cost-effective format.
- The full BOTI course range — sales, management, finance, HR and technical training for teams.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Skills Development Levy (SDL)?
The SDL is a monthly tax of 1% of total payroll, paid to SARS by every employer whose annual payroll (leviable amount) exceeds R500,000[1]. SARS distributes it to the SETAs and the National Skills Fund, and a portion is reserved to be paid back to employers as grants when they submit a compliant Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) and Annual Training Report (ATR).
Who has to pay the Skills Development Levy?
Any employer with an annual payroll above R500,000 must register for and pay the SDL — monthly to SARS through the EMP201 return, alongside PAYE and UIF, at 1% of the leviable amount[1]. Employers below the threshold are exempt but cannot claim grants.
How do I claim the Skills Development Levy back?
Appoint a registered Skills Development Facilitator, build a WSP, deliver the planned training, compile an ATR, and submit both to your SETA by 30 April[2]. A compliant submission releases a mandatory grant of up to 20% of the levy you paid, plus access to discretionary grants. This is general guidance — confirm specifics with your SETA or SDF.
How much of the levy can I get back?
A compliant, on-time WSP and ATR recover a mandatory grant of up to 20% of the levy you paid[2]. Employers can also apply for discretionary grants — funding learnerships, bursaries and internships — which can return considerably more. The same accredited training supports your B-BBEE skills-development score, measured against 6% of the leviable amount[3].
Can BOTI help us recover our levy and deliver the training?
Yes. BOTI is an accredited training provider (Services SETA 12582 and a QCTO-accredited Skills Development Provider) and trains your teams to help structure it so your WSP and ATR are defensible and your grant is released — credit-bearing qualifications from our accredited catalogue, or practical facilitator-led programmes with a certificate of attendance. Legacy SETA unit-standard qualifications are migrating to the new QCTO system, so please confirm current accreditation when you book. We deliver in-house, off-site or remotely across Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria and nationwide. Request a quote on 011-882-8853 or via the booking page.
Request a quote
Stop paying the levy and never claiming it back. Request a quote and a BOTI consultant will scope the right training for your team — accredited, credit-bearing qualifications where they fit, practical programmes where they do not — and help you structure a WSP and ATR that recover your levy. Call 011-882-8853 or ask a consultant to help you map your route from levy to grant before your SETA deadline.
More questions
Is the skills development levy 10% of an employer’s payroll?
No. The Skills Development Levy is 1% of an employer’s total payroll (the leviable amount), not 10%[1]. Employers whose annual payroll is above R500,000 pay it monthly to SARS through the EMP201 return, alongside PAYE and UIF, and employers below that threshold are exempt. A compliant WSP and ATR then let an employer claim a mandatory grant of up to 20% of the levy back[2].
Where does the skills development levy money go?
SARS collects the levy and distributes it to the SETAs and the National Skills Fund. As the SETAs describe the split, 80% goes to the SETAs and 20% to the National Skills Fund. Within the SETA share, 49.5% of the levy funds discretionary grants, 20% funds mandatory grants, 10% pays for SETA administration and 0.5% goes to the QCTO[2].
What happens if we miss the 30 April WSP and ATR deadline?
The mandatory grant depends on submitting your WSP and ATR on time and being up to date with your SDL payments, and there is no extension for late submissions. If you miss 30 April, you lose that year’s mandatory grant, and unclaimed mandatory grant money moves to discretionary funding by 15 August each year[2]. The levy itself is still payable every month, so start the plan early.
Do learners and job-seekers benefit from the skills development levy?
Yes, indirectly. Employers pay the levy and claim the grants, but the money funds training that reaches learners. SETA discretionary grants pay for learnerships, bursaries and internships, and 20% of the levy goes to the National Skills Fund[2], which funds national skills priorities. If you are looking for a funded learnership, ask employers in your sector, or your sector’s SETA, about current opportunities.
If you want someone in-house to own the WSP and ATR, BOTI’s Skills Development Facilitator (SDF) training course prepares staff for that role. It runs in-house at your premises, at our venue in Sunningdale, Johannesburg, or online. This course is not accredited. It is delivered as a professional skills programme, and delegates receive a BOTI certificate of attendance.
Sources
- Skills Development Levy – South African Revenue Service (SARS), 2026.
- Mandatory Grants – Health and Welfare SETA (HWSETA), 2026.
- Codes of Good Practice on B-BBEE: Code Series 300, Statement 300 – Skills Development (Government Gazette 42496) – Department of Trade and Industry, 31 May 2019.
- Godongwana notes Constitutional Court judgment on Public Procurement Act – SAnews (South African Government News Agency), 18 September 2026.
For employers: put your skills levy to work
We train your staff at your offices, online or at a BOTI venue. Training can be planned in your Workplace Skills Plan, and spend on training black employees counts towards the skills development element of your B-BBEE scorecard.
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