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Provisional tax estimator

Work out what to pay SARS (the South African Revenue Service) for the 2027 tax year, which runs from 1 March 2026 to 28 February 2027. For individuals and for companies whose financial year ends in February. Every step of the working is shown, so you can check it line by line.

Your figures

Nothing you type leaves this page. It is worked out in your browser and not stored or sent anywhere.

Who is paying
Which payment
R

Your income for the whole year, salary included, after allowable deductions such as retirement fund contributions and any assessed loss from earlier years, and after exempt interest. Include this year’s taxable capital gains. Leave out retirement fund lump sums and severance benefits, which are taxed separately. Whole rand, no cents.

Count yourself and every dependant on the scheme whose contributions you pay, for the whole year. Use 0 if you are not on a medical scheme.

R

PAYE (Pay-As-You-Earn) on your payslips for the whole year. Whole rand. Use 0 if you have no salary.

R

What you actually paid SARS for August 2026. Whole rand. Use 0 if you paid nothing.

Second payment
R0

How we worked it out

Each line uses the figures above it, worked to the cent and rounded to the rand only for the payment. Tax tables for the 2027 tax year.

    About provisional tax

    What this is, and what it leaves out

    Who pays it

    If you earn income that has no employees’ tax taken off it, such as business profit, rental income or freelance fees, you are generally a provisional taxpayer. If you do not run a business, you are not one where your taxable income is below the tax threshold, or where your interest, dividends, rental income and any pay from an employer not registered for employees’ tax come to R30 000 or less for the year. Companies are provisional taxpayers too, apart from a few exempt bodies such as approved public benefit organisations and body corporates. Instead of paying in one sum after the year ends, you pay SARS in instalments during the year.

    When it is due

    For a year ending in February, the first payment is due by 31 August and the second by the last business day of February. The first is half of the year’s estimated tax, less employees’ tax deducted from March to August. The second is the full year’s tax less the first payment and the year’s employees’ tax. For the 2027 year, 28 February 2027 falls on a Sunday, so pay by Friday 26 February 2027.

    What it does not cover

    • The basic amount on your IRP6 return (broadly, the taxable income on your last assessment).
    • Penalties for a late payment or a low estimate, and interest.
    • The optional third (top-up) payment after year end.
    • Companies with a year end other than February, and trusts.
    • Ring-fenced losses, foreign tax credits, and retirement or severance lump sums.
    • The additional medical expenses tax credit, and changes during the year such as joining a medical scheme part way through (the credit here assumes all 12 months).
    • Seasonal income: working out the full year from the figure so far assumes an even spread across the year.

    This estimator is for planning. It is not tax advice. The estimate on your IRP6 return is your own, and you are responsible for it. A second estimate that is too low can attract an underestimation penalty, so check the final figure with your accountant before you file. Tax tables: 2027 tax year, last checked by MAW against SARS’s published rates on 11/11/2026.

    Would you rather we did it?

    We prepare and file provisional tax for individuals and companies every August and February, and check each estimate against your basic amount and your actual results, so you know where you stand before SARS does.

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