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TRA PAYE bulk upload
Every month you must submit your PAYE (Pay As You Earn) to TRA. TRA requires this in a specific Excel format that you upload through their online portal.
What PAYE is
PAYE is income tax deducted from employees at source. Each month you deduct the correct amount from each employee's salary and remit the total to TRA. The employee never pays this directly — you do it on their behalf.
TRA requires you to file a detailed breakdown showing each employee's name, TIN, gross pay, and tax deducted.
Generating the PAYE export
- Go to Payroll → Exports → PAYE Export.
- Select the month and year.
- Click Download PAYE (TRA Excel).
The file is an Excel workbook in TRA's required format. It includes one row per employee with:
- Employee TIN
- Employee name
- Gross salary
- PAYE deducted
- Work location (Mainland or Zanzibar)
Uploading to TRA
Log in to the TRA taxpayer portal at tra.go.tz, go to the PAYE section, and upload the downloaded Excel file. TRA validates the format and employee TINs.
Common rejection reasons:
- Missing or incorrectly formatted TIN — check that all employees have a 9-digit TIN in their profile
- Wrong month — the file is generated for the month selected; make sure it matches the period you are filing
Important: upload the file as-is
Do not open the downloaded file in Excel and re-save it before uploading to TRA. Opening in Excel can change the file format in ways that TRA rejects. Download the file, and upload it directly to the TRA portal without modifications.
If TRA rejects the file, contact support rather than trying to fix it manually.