What you earn and what you keep are two different numbers.

How this calculator works

Your take-home pay starts with gross monthly salary, then works through South Africa's progressive PAYE tax brackets, the annual rebate for your age group, and the 1% UIF contribution (capped) to land on what actually hits your bank account.

Pension, provident, and retirement annuity contributions reduce your taxable income up to 27.5% of gross income (capped at R350,000 a year), so a higher pension contribution can lower your tax bill even though less cash lands in your account that month. Medical aid contributions don't reduce taxable income directly, but each member on the scheme earns you a fixed monthly tax credit that's subtracted from the tax you owe.

This uses the 2025/2026 SARS tax brackets. Your actual payslip may differ slightly depending on other deductions your employer applies, like a bonus structure or a different pay frequency.

Results are for illustration only and do not constitute financial advice. Consult a qualified financial adviser before making decisions based on these figures.

A worked example

Say you earn R30,000 gross a month, you're 35, and you contribute 7.5% of your salary (R2,250) to a pension fund, with your employer matching another 7.5%. You're on a medical aid with two members, paying R3,600 of the total R4,200 premium yourself.

PAYE on R30,000 a month (R360,000 a year) works out to roughly R4,800 before rebates, reduced by your primary rebate and a two-member medical aid tax credit. After deducting PAYE, 1% UIF (capped), and your R2,250 pension and R3,600 medical aid contributions, take-home lands at roughly R22,400. That's close to 25% of your gross salary going to tax and deductions combined.

Enter your own gross salary, age, pension, and medical aid figures above to see your exact breakdown line by line.

2025/26 SARS income tax brackets

South Africa uses a progressive tax system: each bracket rate applies only to the income within that range, not to the full salary. The 2025/26 brackets are: 18% on the first R237,100; 26% on R237,101 to R370,500; 31% on R370,501 to R512,800; 36% on R512,801 to R673,000; 39% on R673,001 to R857,900; 41% on R857,901 to R1,817,000; and 45% on income above R1,817,000.

Once the bracket tax is calculated, SARS subtracts your rebate: R17,235 per year for individuals under 65 (the primary rebate), an additional R9,444 for those 65 to 74, and a further R3,145 for those 75 and older. The rebate is a fixed rand amount that reduces your tax bill directly, which is why the tax threshold (the point at which tax becomes payable) is approximately R95,750 for under-65s, not zero.

Your marginal rate is the rate that applies to the next rand you earn above your current income. It determines how much of a bonus or salary increase you actually keep, and how much tax you save from a pension contribution or other deduction. The effective rate (total tax as a percentage of gross income) is always lower than the marginal rate, because lower brackets are taxed at lower rates first.