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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. 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, access discretionary grants, and earn B-BBEE skills-development points. This guide explains how the levy works, how to recover it, and where BOTI training fits in.
If you pay the levy every month but never see a cent come back, you forfeit two things at once: the mandatory grant of up to 20% of your levy, and the B-BBEE skills-development points (measured against 6% of the leviable amount) that the same training would earn — points that affect tender positioning. The recovery mechanism is well-defined, and the training you already need to run is exactly what unlocks it.
This article is for South African organisations developing their own staff — not individual learners. 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 |
| The rate | 1% of total monthly payroll (the leviable amount) |
| 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. 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 or a free 15-minute callback. Phone 011-882-8853 or use the BOTI booking page — we aim to respond within 15 minutes. Ask for our free SDL recovery checklist to 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, MICT SETA ACC/2016/07/0045, and a QCTO Quality Partner), 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 completion, 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 a venue in a major centre — 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 and points you can recover. As general guidance only:
- The SDL is 1% of payroll for employers with a leviable amount above R500,000 a year.
- Submit a compliant WSP and ATR and you can claim a mandatory grant of up to 20% of your levy back, 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 — not 6% of payroll — so well-planned training (with accredited, credit-bearing programmes scoring most strongly) also earns points on your transformation scorecard.
Where training supports tenders, note that the PPPFA 2022 regulations score “specific goals” — such as HDI ownership (race, gender and disability) and RDP objectives — rather than a generic B-BBEE level, and the Public Procurement Act 28 of 2024 introduces set-asides. 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, MICT SETA ACC/2016/07/0045, and a QCTO Quality Partner — 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. 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. 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. A compliant submission unlocks 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. 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.
Can BOTI help us recover our levy and deliver the training?
Yes. BOTI is an accredited training provider (Services SETA 12582, MICT SETA ACC/2016/07/0045, and a QCTO Quality Partner) 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 completion. 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 or a 15-minute callback
Stop paying the levy and never claiming it back. Request a quote or book a free 15-minute callback 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 for our free SDL recovery checklist to map your route from levy to grant before your SETA deadline.