SARS 7-band progressive tax (18%-45%), UIF, retirement fund deduction up to 27.5%, medical tax credits. Exact take-home pay in Rand.
Pension, provident & RA contributions deductible up to 27.5% of remuneration, capped at R350,000/year. Your most powerful legal tax reduction tool.
R364/month for main member & first dependant, R246/month each additional. Applied directly as a tax credit against PAYE.
| Band Range | Rate | Income | Tax |
|---|
Seven progressive bands apply: 18% up to R237,100; 26% from R237,101 to R370,500; 31% from R370,501 to R512,800; 36% from R512,801 to R673,000; 39% from R673,001 to R857,900; 41% from R857,901 to R1,817,000; and 45% above R1,817,000. The primary rebate of R17,235 effectively makes income below R95,750 tax-free for taxpayers under 65.
Contributions to approved pension funds, provident funds, and retirement annuity (RA) funds are deductible up to 27.5% of the greater of your remuneration or taxable income, with an annual rand cap of R350,000. This directly reduces your taxable income before PAYE is applied. It is the single biggest legal tax reduction tool for most South Africans.
Employee UIF is 1% of gross salary, and the employer also contributes 1%. The monthly earnings ceiling for 2025/26 is R17,712. If your gross salary exceeds this, UIF is capped at R177.12 per month as the employee contribution. UIF funds temporary unemployment, maternity, illness, and death benefits.
Medical Scheme Fees Tax Credits (MTC) are fixed monthly amounts deducted directly from your PAYE tax payable, not from your income. For 2025/26 the credits are R364 per month for the main member, R364 for the first dependant, and R246 for each additional dependant. Your employer applies these automatically if you contribute via payroll.
Both are employer obligations. UIF is 1% of each employee's remuneration (up to the R17,712 ceiling), paid to the Department of Employment and Labour. SDL (Skills Development Levy) is 1% of total payroll, paid to SARS for workplace training. Neither is deducted from employee salaries. Both are costs above the gross salary for the employer.
If your employer deducts PAYE and you have only one income source below R500,000, you may qualify for auto-assessment and not need to file. You must file if you have other income (rental, freelance, investments), want to claim deductions not applied by your employer, or received a tax directive. The 2025/26 filing season typically opens July 2026 via SARS eFiling.