Use TaxTim's free bonus tax calculator to work out how much PAYE (Pay-As-You-Earn) SARS takes from your annual bonus, 13th cheque, performance bonus or commission, and how much actually lands in your pocket. There is no special "bonus rate" in South Africa: a bonus is added to your salary and taxed at your marginal rate. This calculator uses the SARS difference method — the tax on your salary plus bonus, minus the tax on your salary alone — so a bonus that pushes you into a higher bracket is taxed correctly, partly at the lower rate and partly at the higher one. Just enter your salary, your bonus, your age and any retirement-fund contributions.
First the calculator annualises your salary (a monthly salary is multiplied by 12) and works out your taxable income by subtracting any allowable retirement-fund contributions under section 11F (limited to 27.5% of remuneration and capped at R350,000 for the 2026 tax year, R430,000 from 2027). It then applies the SARS sliding-scale tax tables twice: once to your salary alone, and once to your salary plus the bonus, subtracting the age-based rebates each time to get your annual PAYE. The tax on your bonus is simply the difference between those two PAYE figures. Because the bonus sits on top of your existing income, it is taxed at your marginal rate — and if it crosses a bracket boundary, the portion below the threshold is taxed at the lower rate and the portion above at the higher rate. Your net bonus is the gross bonus less this PAYE (and less UIF, only if your salary is below the UIF ceiling).
Tax brackets — 2026 tax year (1 Mar 2025 – 28 Feb 2026):
| Taxable income (R) | Rates of tax |
|---|---|
| 0 – 237,100 | 18% of taxable income |
| 237,101 – 370,500 | 42,678 + 26% above 237,100 |
| 370,501 – 512,800 | 77,362 + 31% above 370,500 |
| 512,801 – 673,000 | 121,475 + 36% above 512,800 |
| 673,001 – 857,900 | 179,147 + 39% above 673,000 |
| 857,901 – 1,817,000 | 251,258 + 41% above 857,900 |
| 1,817,001 and above | 644,489 + 45% above 1,817,000 |
Rebates: Primary R17,235 • Secondary (65+) R9,444 • Tertiary (75+) R3,145
Tax thresholds (no tax below): Under 65 R95,750 • 65–74 R148,217 • 75+ R165,689
UIF: 1% of remuneration, max R177.12/month (earnings ceiling R17,712/month)
Retirement-fund deduction (s11F): 27.5% of remuneration, capped at R350,000/year for 2026 (R430,000 from the 2027 tax year)
Example (2026 tax year): Lerato, age under 65, earns R30,000 per month (R360,000 per year) and receives a R30,000 bonus, with no retirement contributions.
Figures are an estimate of the annual incremental PAYE; your employer may spread PAYE differently across pay periods and your net figure excludes medical aid and other voluntary deductions.
A bonus is taxed at your marginal tax rate — the rate of the bracket your total income (salary plus bonus) lands in. SARS does not apply a special flat "bonus rate". The calculator works out the extra PAYE as the tax on your salary plus bonus, minus the tax on your salary alone. If the bonus pushes part of your income into a higher bracket, that part is taxed at the higher rate, which is why a bonus can feel heavily taxed.
If your salary already sits in a high bracket (39%, 41% or 45%), the whole bonus is taxed at that marginal rate, and a large bonus can also push you into the next bracket. The deduction looks big because it is the extra tax on income earned on top of your normal salary, not because bonuses are taxed more harshly than other income. Your annual assessment uses exactly this same method, so it should balance out.
No. SARS treats a 13th cheque, a performance bonus, a guaranteed bonus and commission all as ordinary remuneration. They are added to your taxable income and taxed at your marginal rate. There is no separate "13th cheque" tax rate or exemption.
No. Directives and the "averaging" method apply to lump sums such as retirement, retrenchment or severance and certain backdated payments, not to ordinary annual bonuses or 13th cheques. Your bonus is simply added to your salary and taxed through PAYE at your marginal rate. Use the Retirement Lump Sum calculator if you are receiving a retirement or severance lump sum instead.
You can lower your overall taxable income (and therefore the bracket your bonus falls into) by contributing more to a pension, provident fund or retirement annuity, up to 27.5% of remuneration capped at R350,000 (R430,000 from the 2027 tax year). Some employers let you sacrifice part of a bonus into a retirement fund. The tax on the bonus itself is fixed by your marginal rate, so the main lever is reducing taxable income.
Usually no. UIF is 1% of remuneration but is capped at R177.12 per month (a R17,712 monthly earnings ceiling). If your monthly salary already exceeds R17,712 you have hit the UIF cap on your salary, so the bonus attracts no extra UIF. Only if your salary in the bonus month is below the ceiling will 1% UIF apply to the bonus, up to the cap.
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