South Africa income tax 2026-27: 18% to 45%, ordinary residence, and the 91 and 915-day test

South Africa taxes on residence: a resident's worldwide taxable income is in scope, and a non-resident's taxable income from South African sources. Two tests decide which you are. The first is ordinary residence, which the courts read as the country of your usual or principal residence, what SARS calls your real home. It has no number attached. The second is the physical presence test, for people who are not ordinarily resident during the year, and it is a much longer test than most: over 91 days in the year of assessment, over 91 days in each of the five years before it, and over 915 days in total across those five. All three parts must be met. In practice, a newcomer who is not ordinarily resident can only become resident this way in the sixth year, and then from the first day of that year. The year itself is not the calendar year either: for individuals, it runs from 1 March to the end of February, and SARS names it after the year in which it ends.

Rates for the 2027 year of assessment

2027 year of assessment, 1 March 2026 to 28 February 2027, before the primary rebate of R17,820.

SARS publishes the scale as a base sum plus a rate on the excess, which gives the same result as the slices above. On R500,000 of taxable income, the scale gives R116,237 before rebates. Taking off the primary rebate of R17,820 leaves R98,417. On R1,000,000, the same steps give R306,113 and then R288,293.

The threshold follows from the rebate: R17,820 is 18% of R99,000, so tax only starts above that amount. Filing has its own rule, from SARS's guide Taxation in South Africa 2026, written for the year just ended. Above the threshold you must file, but not if your income is only remuneration from one source of up to R500,000 with PAYE deducted under the tables, South African interest of up to R23,800 under age 65 or R34,500 from 65, or a few other items, including dividends for a non-resident. The yearly notice in the Government Gazette gives the full list.

Non-residents and work abroad

A non-resident working temporarily in South Africa pays on South African-source income, with PAYE when the employer is resident. Those who keep coming back should watch the presence test. A resident working abroad remains taxable on foreign income unless it is exempt or a treaty gives the right to tax only to the other country. Foreign tax paid can bring a rebate or a deduction, with proof. SARS points to its Interpretation Note 16 for the exemption on foreign employment income. We did not read that note, so we do not state its limits here.

The presence test, part by part

The purpose or nature of your visit does not matter, and the test must be run again each year. A day includes part of a day, from 00:00 to 24:00: someone arriving at 23:55 has one day, and both arrival and departure days count. A day in transit between two places outside South Africa is left out if you do not formally enter through a port of entry. SARS's example 1 gives four days for someone who enters on 1 February at 19:00 and leaves on 4 February at 06:00.

Notice what does not count towards the 915. In SARS's example 2, a person has 355 days in the year under review, and 95, 110, 115, 92 and 151 in the five years before. Each of those beats 91, yet they total 563, and the current year's 355 are not added in. That person is not resident. In example 3, the five years total 975 days, and 108 days in the current year then make the person resident from 1 March of that year, six weeks before they even arrived that year. Worldwide income is caught from that first day. The counter above uses the same arithmetic, and our tests reproduce both examples.

Leaving: 330 full days, or a change of real home

The way out depends on how you came in. If you are resident through the presence test, you stop when you are physically outside South Africa for a continuous period of at least 330 full days, and residence then ends from the day you left. A period of that length always spans two years of assessment. In SARS's example 4, someone is away from 1 December 2016 to 31 October 2017, which is 335 full days, and stops being resident on 30 November 2016. A person who is ordinarily resident and who spends time abroad intending to return stays resident however long the absence, and SARS sends you to its Interpretation Note 3 on that concept, which we did not read for this page.

Ceasing to be resident has a price. Under section 9H, you are deemed to dispose of your worldwide assets at market value on the day before you cease to be resident, other than immovable property in South Africa or an interest in it, and to reacquire them at that value the next day. That brings capital gains tax into a move that sold nothing. A person who ceases to be resident also files a return for the period from 1 March to the day before that date.

Treaties can take you out of the definition

A person who is exclusively resident in another country for the purposes of a tax treaty is excluded from the definition of "resident". SARS says that this exclusion comes from the definition itself, and that a specific treaty definition takes precedence. So someone who meets the 91 and 915-day counts can still be outside South African residence on a treaty tie-breaker. Where no treaty exists, the two countries' rules simply apply side by side, subject to the relief for foreign tax. We have not reviewed South Africa's treaties here. See dual tax residency for the method.

Six years on one screen

A test spread over six tax years, each starting on 1 March, is awkward to work out in a spreadsheet. A stay from January to April falls into two years of assessment, so a total by calendar year will mislead you. Enter your stays once, and the counter shows the current year, your weakest year of the previous five and their total. Keep your passport pages, since SARS's day count starts from them: "as indicated in the person's passport", in the words of its note. Compare with the UK and Australia, which also use their own tax years, or with the country table. The Taxlag app keeps this long count from one year to the next.