South Africa

Southern Africa · ZA · 79 treaties

Tax profile

Common questions

What are the main tax rates in South Africa?

The top personal income tax rate is 45%, corporate tax is 27%, and capital gains tax is 18%. VAT is 15%.

How is tax residency determined in South Africa?

Tax residency in South Africa is established after spending 183 days in the country. South Africa has a nomad visa.

Does South Africa have specific rules for crypto tax?

Cryptocurrency in South Africa is taxed specially, with a headline rate of 18% and no long-term exemption.

What makes you a tax resident — and how hard it is to stop being one.

• ordinarily resident in South Africa (country regarded as real / principal home, place to which you naturally return)
• physical presence test: present in South Africa for more than 91 days in the current tax year
• physical presence test: present in South Africa for more than 91 days in each of the preceding five tax years
• physical presence test: present in South Africa for more than 915 days in aggregate during those preceding five tax years
• excluded from South African residency if deemed exclusively a resident of another country under a double tax agreement

Stopping tax residency is straightforward under the physical presence test (330 consecutive days outside South Africa), but harder where you are ordinarily resident because SARS applies a detailed factual and intent-based inquiry, and formal cessation must be processed with supporting evidence.

Source: South African Revenue Service (SARS)

Tax treaty network (83)

In-force double-tax treaty partners. Treaty-reduced withholding (dividends / interest / royalties) shown where the official source publishes a rate; otherwise the country's statutory rate applies unless the treaty text provides a reduction.