Use TaxTim's free SARS donations tax calculator to work out how much donations tax you owe when you give cash, property or assets to someone else. Donations tax is paid by the donor (the person making the gift) at 20% of the cumulative value donated since 1 March 2018, up to R30 million, and 25% above that. As an individual you can donate up to R100,000 free of donations tax in the 2026 tax year (year ended 28 February 2026); from the 2027 tax year (donations on or after 1 March 2026) the annual exemption rises to R150,000. Just enter the value of your gift, who you are giving it to and the tax year, and the calculator applies the right exemption and rate for you.
The calculator first picks the annual exemption for the tax year and donor you choose: R100,000 for an individual in the 2026 tax year (R150,000 from 2027), or the smaller casual-gift exemption of R10,000 (R20,000 from 2027) for a company or trust. It then checks the recipient. Donations to your spouse (where the spouse is a South African tax resident), to an approved Public Benefit Organisation (PBO), to any sphere of government, or for the bona fide maintenance of a dependant are fully exempt, so the result is R0 no matter how big the gift. For any other recipient it subtracts the remaining annual exemption from your donation to get the taxable donation, then taxes it at 20% up to the R30 million cumulative-since-1-March-2018 threshold and 25% on anything above. The annual exemption is a single allowance shared across all your gifts in the year, so earlier donations reduce what is left. You declare and pay the tax on form IT144 by the end of the month after the donation.
Donations tax — 2026 and 2027 tax years:
| Cumulative donations since 1 March 2018 | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to R30,000,000 | 20% |
| Above R30,000,000 | 25% |
Annual exemption (individual / natural person): R100,000 for the 2026 tax year • R150,000 from the 2027 tax year (donations on/after 1 March 2026)
Casual-gift exemption (company / trust / entity): R10,000 for 2026 • R20,000 from 2027
Fully exempt recipients (no limit): spouse (SA resident) • approved PBO / S18A charity • any sphere of government • bona fide maintenance of a dependant
Payment: declare and pay on form IT144 by the end of the month after the donation took effect
Example (2026 tax year): Lerato, an individual, donates R500,000 cash to her adult child in June 2025. She has made no other donations this year and her cumulative taxable donations since 1 March 2018 are R0.
If the same donation were made in the 2027 tax year, the R150,000 exemption would apply: R350,000 × 20% = R70,000. Figures are illustrative; confirm your own position with SARS before filing.
As an individual you can donate up to R100,000 per tax year free of donations tax for the 2026 year of assessment (year ended 28 February 2026). From the 2027 year of assessment (donations on or after 1 March 2026) the annual exemption rises to R150,000 — the first increase since 2007. The exemption is a single annual allowance shared across all the donations you make in that year.
Donations tax is 20% on the cumulative value of property you have donated since 1 March 2018 up to R30 million, and 25% on the cumulative value above R30 million. So a single donation is taxed at 20% unless your running total of taxable donations since 1 March 2018 has already passed R30 million.
The donor (the person making the gift) is liable for donations tax and must complete an IT144 declaration and pay SARS. The recipient pays no income tax on the gift but should declare it as a non-taxable amount on their ITR12. If the donor does not pay on time, the donor and the recipient become jointly and severally liable for the tax.
No. Donations to your spouse (where the spouse is a South African tax resident), donations to an approved Public Benefit Organisation (PBO), and donations to any sphere of government are fully exempt from donations tax, with no upper limit. Bona fide contributions toward the reasonable maintenance of a dependant are also exempt.
Donations tax must be paid by the end of the month following the month in which the donation took effect (or a longer period SARS allows). You declare the donation on form IT144 and pay through SARS eFiling. For example, a donation made in June must be declared and paid by 31 July.
Entities that are not natural persons only get a casual-gift exemption — R10,000 per year of assessment for 2026, rising to R20,000 from 2027 (effective 1 March 2026). Donations between companies in the same South African group of companies are, however, fully exempt.
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