6 Qualifying employees
An employee is a qualifying employee if the employee-
(a)
(i) is not less than 18 years old and not more than 29 years old at the end of any month in respect of which the employment tax incentive is claimed;
[Subparagraph (i) substituted by section 4(1)(a)-(d) of Act 13 of 2020 deemed effective on 1 December, 2021 and applicable in respect of any remuneration paid on or after that date]
(ii) is employed by an employer that is a qualifying company as contemplated in section 12R of the Income Tax Act, and that employee renders services to that employer mainly within the special economic zone in which the qualifying company that is the employer carries on trade; or
[Subparagraph (ii) substituted by section 80(1)(a) of Act 34 of 2019 effective on 1 March, 2020]
(iii) is employed by an employer in an industry designated by the Minister of Finance, after consultation with the Minister of Labour and the Minister of Trade and Industry, by notice in the Gazette;
(b)
(i) is in possession of an identity card referred to in section 14 of the Identification Act, 1997 (Act 68 of 1997), issued to that employee after application for the card in terms of section 15 of that Act;
[Subparagraph (i) amended by section 115(1)(a) of Act 43 of 2014 deemed to have come into operation on 1 January, 2014]
(ii) is in possession of an asylum seeker permit, issued to that employee in terms of section 22(1) of the Refugees Act, 1998 (Act 130 of 1998), after application for the permit in terms of section 21(1) of that Act; or
[Subparagraph (ii) amended by section 115(1)(a) of Act 43 of 2014 deemed to have come into operation on 1 January, 2014]
(iii) is in possession of an identity document issued in terms of section 30 of the Refugees Act, 1998 (Act 130 of 1998);
[Subparagraph (iii) added by section 115(1)(a) of Act 43 of 2014 deemed to have come into operation on 1 January, 2014]
(c) in relation to the employer, is not a connected person as defined in section 1 of the Income Tax Act;
(d) is not a domestic worker as defined in section 1 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997 (Act 75 of 1997);
(e) was employed by the employer or an associated person on or after 1 October 2013 in respect of employment commencing on or after that date;
[Paragraph (e) amended by section 115(1)(b) of Act 43 of 2014, deleted by section 4(1)(e) of Act 13 of 2020, inserted by section 4(1)(f) of Act 13 of 2020, deleted by section 4(1)(g) of Act 13 of 2020 and inserted by section 4(1)(h) of Act 13 of 2020 deemed effective on 1 December, 2021 and applicable in respect of any remuneration paid on or after that date]
(f) is not an employee in respect of whom an employer is ineligible to receive the incentive by virtue of section 4; and
[Paragraph (f) amended by section 115(1)(b) of Act 43 of 2014 deemed to have come into operation on 1 January, 2014]
(g) receives remuneration in an amount less than R6 500 in respect of a month.
[Paragraph (g) added by section 115(1)(b) of Act 43 of 2014 and substituted section 80(1)(b) of Act 34 of 2019 deemed to have come into operation on 1 March, 2019]
: Provided that the employee is not, in fulfilling the conditions of their employment contract during any month, mainly involved in the activity of studying, unless the employer and employee have entered into a learning programme as defined in section 1 of the Skills Development Act, 1998 (Act 97 of 1998), and, in determining the time spent studying in proportion to the total time for which the employee is employed, the time must be based on actual hours spent studying and employed.
[Section 6 amended by section 59(1) of Act 20 of 2021 effective on 1 March, 2022 and applicable in respect of years of assessment commencing on or after that date]