A structured way to support commuting staff — without the administrative burden

Payment tiers

CDII calls this a Social Ex Gratia Payment — never an allowance or benefit. You choose the tier per employee, based on their commute.

Amounts can vary at your discretion as the participating employer, subject to CDII confirmation and employee-level justification.

What's required of your business

SmartCommute™ is designed to be light on your team's time:

• Sign the Participation Agreement with CDII
• Identify participating employees and their tier (via the Employee Acceptance Form)
• Run the Social Ex Gratia Payment as a separate pay-run line, 5+ business days before normal salary — CDII provides the Disbursement Notice
• Confirm your preferred tax treatment (s11(a) primary, or discuss s18A) with your own tax adviser

Why employers choose CDII to administer this

The s11(a) deduction is available to any employer running a similar scheme independently — CDII isn't required for that. What CDII adds: governance and legal defensibility, turnkey administration so your payroll team isn't building this from scratch, B-BBEE Socio-Economic Development qualification, and the option to elect s18A treatment instead, subject to SARS assessment.

Employers are advised to confirm their preferred tax treatment with an independent tax adviser. Full mechanics: Tax & Compliance detail. Want the numbers for your team specifically? Try the Savings Calculator.