Property tax in South Africa
See what South Africa's tax rules do to your property portfolio.
What Freeholt models for property, income and retirement in South Africa, and what it does not.
Free to start. No card. Rules reviewed 12 July 2026.
Modelled here
- Tax on rental income
- Capital gains on a sale
- Duty on purchase
- Annual property or land tax
ZAR · Rates as at 12 July 2026 · Estimates, not advice
Net rental income is taxed at marginal rates (the 2025/26 scale from 18% to 45%) with mortgage interest deductible and losses carried forward. The primary rebate is APPROXIMATED as a zero band of about R95,750 rather than modelled as a rebate, and medical tax credits are not modelled at all. On disposal, 40% of the gain is included in income at marginal rates, which the projection applies as a 60% discount and which caps out near an 18% effective rate; the R2 million primary residence exclusion and the R40,000 annual exclusion are NOT modelled. A non resident seller's section 35A withholding is modelled, at the 7.5% natural person rate on the PRICE rather than the gain, and treated as a credit against the final bill, which is what it is, but only at that rate: the 10% company and 15% trust rates, and the R2 million threshold below which nothing is withheld at all, are not modelled.
How rental income is taxed in South Africa
For a resident owner: Progressive rates from 18% to 45%, stacked on other income in this country. The top rate of 45% applies above ZAR 1,878,600. For an owner living abroad and renting this out: Progressive rates from 18% to 45%, stacked on other income in this country. The top rate of 45% applies above ZAR 1,878,600.
Interest and losses
Mortgage interest is deductible against the rent. A rental loss is ring fenced: it carries forward against future rental income rather than reducing other income now.
Capital gains on a sale
Gains are added to income and taxed at the marginal income rate. Hold for at least 1 year and 60% of the gain is discounted. 7.5% of the SALE PRICE is withheld at settlement from a non resident seller. It is a credit against the bill, not an extra tax, but it is cash the seller does not get on the day.
Annual property tax while holding
About 0.7% a year on the property value.
What it costs to buy
About 5% of the price on purchase. Transfer duty is priced from the SARS table in force from 1 April 2026, which the projection models as a schedule: nothing to R1,210,000, then 3%, 6%, 8%, 11% and 13% in slices. The same rates apply to a person, a company, a close corporation and a trust. If the SELLER is a registered VAT vendor (usually a developer on a new build), the sale carries 15% VAT INSTEAD of transfer duty, normally inside the advertised price, and that fork is not modelled; conveyancing and Deeds Office fees are extra. The annual property tax is modelled, at a flat 0.7% of market value a year. That is the municipal rates, which are really charged on the municipal valuation at 0.5 to 1.2% depending on the city, so treat 0.7% as an indicative middle. Because rates are also inside the running costs default of 2% below, leaving both untouched counts them twice. Foreigners may own freehold with no citizenship or residency requirement (title flows from registration at the Deeds Office, not from nationality), and there is no foreign buyer surcharge. The narrow exceptions are not nationality based: land under communal or trust tenure, protected land, and land under an active restitution claim.
Residents of South Africa with property abroad
A resident of South Africa is taxed on rent and sale gains from property abroad under the same rules as property in South Africa, with a credit for the tax paid where the property is. The credit stops at South Africa's own tax on that income, so the total is broadly the higher of the two countries' charges. Special regimes for people who have just moved to a country are not included in Freeholt's figures.
How Freeholt models South Africa
Every rate above is priced from Freeholt's own table for South Africa and runs through the whole projection: rental income, a modelled sale and the annual holding costs all use the same figures. They cannot be edited yet, so a position that differs from the defaults has to be read with that in mind. The estimate assumes an individual owner rather than a company or trust, and where a rule is not modelled it is listed below rather than quietly priced at zero.
What running this property costs
In South Africa this covers municipal rates (charged on the municipal valuation), sectional title body corporate levies where the property is in a complex or block (which can be substantial where there are pools, gyms or 24 hour security), landlord and building insurance, private security such as armed response and alarm monitoring, which is the local norm rather than an extra, and maintenance.
How borrowing works here
South African bonds are usually VARIABLE rate, linked to prime, rather than fixed; twenty years is the common term and thirty is available. A non resident buyer is generally capped at 50% loan to value, so budget a 50% deposit. Every mortgage to a non resident must also be approved by the South African Reserve Bank before it can complete, which is a step with its own timetable rather than a formality.
What actually happened here
This country's own record, one year at a time. Nothing on this page is borrowed from another country. Move across a chart to read a year.
This is the published benchmark that mortgages here are priced from, not a rate a household is quoted. The level sits away from what a borrower pays; the swings are the real cycle.
What Freeholt models here
- ModelledTax on rental income
- Resident and non resident rates, with interest and losses treated under the local rule.
- ModelledCapital gains on a sale
- Priced in the year of the sale under the rules of that year.
- ModelledDuty on purchase
- One off, on the way in, at the scale in force.
- ModelledAnnual property or land tax
- Charged every year the property is held.
- Not yetIncome tax beyond the rent
- Not modelled for this country yet.
- Not yetDividends, interest and share sales
- Not modelled for this country yet.
- Not yetRetirement savings
- Not modelled for this country yet.
- Not yetInheritance and what happens on death
- Not modelled for this country yet.
What Freeholt does not model here
- Inheritance and estate tax
- Treaty relief between this country and the owner's country of residence
Coverage deepens country by country. Every figure is an estimate, not advice.
Compare with another country
Each page is built from the same table the app runs on, so the figures line up side by side.
Compare South Africa with another country — rent, gains, annual tax and duty, side by side.
Questions people ask
- Does Freeholt model South Africa property tax?
- Yes. Rental income tax, capital gains on a sale, duty on purchase and annual property or land tax are priced from Freeholt's own rate table for South Africa. The rates are not editable yet, so one that differs in a particular case cannot be overridden. Every figure is an estimate, not advice.
- How is rental income from South Africa taxed if I live somewhere else?
- Progressive rates from 18% to 45%, stacked on other income in this country. The top rate of 45% applies above ZAR 1,878,600. Tax may also be due in the country of residence, with credit for what was paid here. Estimates only, not advice.
- What are the South Africa figures as at?
- The rate table for South Africa was last reviewed on 12 July 2026. Freeholt date stamps every country rather than implying all of them were checked on the same day. Estimates only, not advice.
Model a property in South Africa alongside everything else you own: see the year your portfolio starts paying you back.