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Is a commission based salary taxed differently?



A lot of people have told me that you get taxed more on a commission based salary than on a fixed monthly salary but I cannot find any evidence to support this. Is it true? Are you taxed more on commission earnings?

TaxTim TaxTim says:
1 July 2014 at 16:59

No it is not, all income from employment regardless of salary or commission are taxed the same. You can also, in fact, deduct travelling expenses against this commission and if your commission represents more than half of your income in total you would be able to deduct other expenses incurred in earning this income.

RogMan says:
1 July 2014 at 17:19

Alright so my salary is 100% commission based and depends on how many clients I attend to per month and therefore varies each month. So the way my income is taxed should not be any different from someone who earns the same amount as me anually but with a fixed monthly salary? Am I correct?

TaxTim TaxTim says:
1 July 2014 at 17:35

The only difference is that if you do not have a tax directive, which is a document from SARS saying what percentage your employer should deduct each month, then you would be subject to the PAYE on your commission as if that is the annual figure (so x 12) which may mean your PAYE fluctuates each month. However if you have ever paid then you will receive a refund at year end.

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