South Africa Income Tax Calculator (SARS)

About the South Africa Income Tax Calculator (SARS)

Work out a South African resident’s income tax for a SARS tax year the way an assessment does. Enter your taxable income for the year (or a month), your age and what you pay into pension, provident and retirement annuity funds: the calculator deducts the contributions up to SARS’s limits, taxes what is left band by band, takes off the primary rebate (and the secondary and tertiary rebates from 65 and 75), then the medical scheme fees tax credit for everyone your medical aid covers and, if you enter your fees and out-of-pocket costs, the additional medical expenses tax credit.

You see the tax for the year and a month, the effective and marginal rates, every step of the working and, if you enter the PAYE and provisional tax you paid, whether SARS owes you a refund. The calculator also has the previous tax year’s rates, for a return you are still filing. Nothing you type leaves your browser.

Without a pass, the free preview shows the income tax for the year in full, with the first rows of the working and of the band table; a Pro pass unlocks every figure, the whole working, the refund or balance, the summary to copy and the CSV.

The income tax rates

Taxable income of an individual is taxed in bands (SARS):

• Up to R245 100: 18% of the amount
• R245 101 – R383 100: R44 118 + 26% of the amount above R245 100
• R383 101 – R530 200: R79 998 + 31% of the amount above R383 100
• R530 201 – R695 800: R125 599 + 36% of the amount above R530 200
• R695 801 – R887 000: R185 215 + 39% of the amount above R695 800
• R887 001 – R1 878 600: R259 783 + 41% of the amount above R887 000
• R1 878 601 and above: R666 339 + 45% of the amount above R1 878 600

The amount at the start of each band is the tax on all the income below it, so the rate shown only applies to the part of your income in that band.

Rebates and tax thresholds

Everyone gets the primary rebate of R17 820 off the tax; from 65 the secondary rebate adds R9 765 and from 75 the tertiary rebate R3 249, by your age on the last day of the tax year. So no tax is payable on a taxable income up to R99 000 under 65, R153 250 from 65 and R171 300 from 75 (SARS). Rebates cannot create a refund.

Medical aid tax credits

The medical scheme fees tax credit is R376 a month for the first person whose fees you pay, R376 for the second and R254 for each further dependant, for each month you pay (SARS). On top, the additional medical expenses tax credit covers out-of-pocket costs: from 65, or if you, your spouse or your child has a disability, 33,3% of the fees above three times the credit plus 33,3% of qualifying expenses; for everyone else 25% of the fees above four times the credit plus qualifying expenses, to the extent they exceed 7,5% of taxable income (SARS). Both credits only reduce tax: what is left over is not refunded or carried forward (SARS guide).

Retirement fund contributions

Contributions to pension, provident and retirement annuity funds, including your employer’s contributions for you, are deductible up to 27,5% of the higher of your remuneration and taxable income, at most R430 000 a year (SARS Budget FAQs). Contributions above the limit carry forward to later years. A retirement annuity your employer does not deduct from your salary lowers your tax only on assessment, which is why it often brings a refund.

From PAYE to your assessment

Your employer deducts PAYE each month on an estimate of your year (SARS employer guide); your assessment then uses your real income, contributions and medical costs, and the difference is refunded or payable. SARS has a short questionnaire that tells you whether you must submit a return. For your monthly PAYE, UIF and net pay, use the take-home pay calculator; for a sale of shares or property, the capital gains tax calculator.

Limitations

• For South African tax residents. Enter South African interest in its own field (the first R23 800 a year, or R34 500 from 65, is exempt) and leave out local dividends, which have 20% dividends tax withheld instead of income tax, and tax-free savings account returns.
• Retirement fund lump sums and severance benefits have tables of their own: use the retirement lump sum tax calculator for them.
• The 27,5% limit is worked out on the income you enter, which stands in for both your remuneration and your taxable income.
• When several people share the fees for one medical aid member, SARS splits the credit between them; this calculator gives it all to you.
• Travel allowance claims, donations to approved public benefit organisations, foreign tax credits and provisional tax penalties are not worked out.

Privacy

Everything happens in your browser. What you enter or open here is not uploaded or stored by MySmartCoPilot.