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Income tax calculator South Africa - estimate your PAYE
Estimate your South African income tax and PAYE for the 2026/27 tax year using the official SARS tax brackets, with age-based rebates applied.
Last reviewed 14 October 2026 · next scheduled review 25 February 2027 · runs entirely in your browser
How to use it
- Enter your annual income - Use your total taxable income for the year, before deductions but after any exempt amounts.
- Select your age band - Age determines which rebates you may claim, which changes the tax-free threshold.
- Add retirement contributions - Contributions to a pension, provident or retirement annuity fund are deductible up to the published limit.
- Read the estimate - The result shows tax before rebates, the rebates applied, and your estimated liability.
Total taxable income for the year, before deductions.
Age determines which rebates you may claim.
Pension, provident fund and retirement annuity contributions. Deductible within published limits.
Enter 0 if you have no medical scheme. The estimate applies the 2026/27 basic credit for the number of people entered.
Your estimate
- Tax before rebates
- R0
- Rebates applied
- R0
- Medical scheme tax credits
- R0
- Estimated tax payable for the year
- R0
- Estimated monthly PAYE
- R0
- Effective tax rate
- 0%
Estimate only. Does not include other deductions, allowances, fringe benefits or capital gains.
Enter your annual taxable income to estimate the PAYE you owe for the 2026/27 tax year. The calculator applies the official SARS bracket table and subtracts the primary, secondary and tertiary rebates based on your age.
How PAYE is worked out on a payslip
Pay As You Earn is not a flat percentage. SARS applies progressive brackets to your taxable income, adds the tax of every bracket below the one you land in, then subtracts rebates and medical scheme fees tax credits from the result. Only after that does your employer divide the annual figure into monthly PAYE.
That is why an increase in salary never reduces your take-home pay in South Africa: only the money above a bracket threshold is taxed at the higher rate. People often describe this as being 'pushed into a higher bracket', but the extra percentage applies only to the portion of income above the threshold, not to the whole salary.
Rebates, credits and the age thresholds
A rebate reduces the tax you owe; it is not a payment to you. Everyone under 65 gets the primary rebate. From 65 you add the secondary rebate, and from 75 the tertiary rebate as well. If your total tax is smaller than your rebates, the result is zero and you owe nothing - you do not get the unused rebate as cash.
Medical scheme fees tax credits work differently again. They reduce tax payable per member on the scheme, per month, and they are the main reason a household with medical aid can owe less than a household without it on the same income. If you do not belong to a medical scheme, you cannot claim the credit.
What this estimator deliberately leaves out
The estimate covers taxable income, retirement contributions within the deductible cap, rebates and medical scheme credits. It does not model travel allowances, company cars, bursaries, share-based payments, capital gains, rental income or deductions such as home office expenses or donations. Each of those changes the tax computation in its own way, and several of them are where a refund or a surprise assessment actually comes from.
Use the number here as a sanity check on your payslip and to test scenarios - a raise, an extra retirement annuity contribution, a new dependant on the medical scheme. For a figure you can rely on, work from your IRP5 or IT3(a) and the current SARS rates tables, or ask a registered tax practitioner.
How this fits into the rest of the site
A calculator answers "what number", but the decision behind it is usually about a date and an official process. If you are checking whether a deadline has passed, the Important Dates Centre carries the published dates with their sources. If you are checking a government status, no calculator can help you and no website outside government can either - the relevant official link is listed at the bottom of this page.
We do not claim to be a government service and this tool has no official standing. It is an independent estimate published for planning, with its sources named so you can check every figure against the body that actually decides it.
Frequently asked questions
Are the SARS tax brackets in this calculator up to date?Toggle answer
The calculator uses the SARS 2026/27 tax brackets, rebates and basic medical scheme fees tax credits last checked on 14 October 2026. Tax figures can change with the annual Budget or later legislation; verify the published figures with SARS before making a filing or payroll decision.
Does this calculator include the medical scheme fees tax credit?Toggle answer
Yes. It applies the 2026/27 basic medical scheme fees tax credit using the number of scheme members selected: R376 per month for each of the first two people and R254 per month for each additional dependant. It does not calculate the additional medical expenses tax credit or every age/disability-specific adjustment.
What is the tax-free threshold?Toggle answer
It is the income level below which no income tax is payable once rebates are applied. It differs by age because the primary rebate applies to everyone and the secondary and tertiary rebates apply from age 65 and 75. This calculator shows the threshold applicable to the age you select.
Does this calculator work for provisional taxpayers?Toggle answer
The tax calculation itself is the same, because provisional tax is still income tax calculated on taxable income. What differs is when and how you pay it: in two or three instalments during the year rather than through monthly PAYE. See our provisional tax deadlines guide for the payment dates.
Where the numbers come from
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