Rental Income Tax Calculator South Africa 2026/2027
Official SARS expense categories · Source: SARSCalculate your net rental profit and its tax impact, using the official SARS list of deductible expenses.
Step 1 — How much of the property is let?
Apportionment percentage: 0.00%
Step 2 — Rental income
Step 3 — Deductible expenses
Enter your total expenses. Use the toggle to indicate if an expense applies to the whole property (apportioned) or only the let area (claimed in full).
Not deductible against rental income — but added to your property's CGT base cost for when you eventually sell.
Tax Impact
To calculate the estimated tax on your rental profit, provide your other taxable income.
Source: SARS — Tax on Rental Income page
This calculator provides an estimate only, based on the official SARS list of permissible rental expenses. It does not constitute tax advice and does not cover every possible scenario (such as ring-fencing rules for habitual loss-making rentals, or VAT registration as a short-term letting business). Consult a registered tax practitioner for guidance specific to your situation.
Which rental expenses can you deduct?
| Permissible expense | Note |
|---|---|
| Rates and taxes | Municipal rates and property taxes |
| Bond interest | The interest portion of your mortgage repayment — not the capital repayment |
| Advertisements | Costs of advertising the property for rent |
| Agency fees | Estate agent letting/management fees |
| Insurance | Homeowner's insurance only — not household contents insurance, and not bond insurance |
| Garden services | |
| Repairs | In respect of the area let |
| Security and property levies |
Source: SARS — Tax on Rental Income page
Capital expenses — most commonly, improvements to the property — are not deductible against rental income. The value of an improvement is instead added to the property's CGT base cost, reducing the eventual capital gain (or increasing the loss) when the property is sold.
Repairs vs. improvements — the test:
• Repairs/maintenance: restoring an asset to its original condition after damage or deterioration — deductible.
• Improvements: creating a better asset than existed before — not deductible against rental income (but added to CGT base cost).
SARS notes that the specific facts and circumstances of each case must be examined to determine which category applies.
Source: SARS — Tax on Rental Income page
Residential accommodation letting is an exempt supply for VAT purposes. This means you cannot register for VAT on residential rental income, and you cannot deduct any VAT you paid on related expenses.
Source: SARS — Tax on Rental Income page
Worked example — letting part of your home (SARS's own example)
The scenario:
Z lets two rooms (each with its own en-suite bathroom) within Z's main home, on a bed-and-breakfast basis. The total area of the dwelling is 420m²; the area let is 120m² — meaning 28.57% of the property is let (120 ÷ 420 × 100).
Z's total rental income for the year was R50,000.
The expenses and their treatment:
| Expense | Total (R) | Apportioned to let area (28.57%) |
|---|---|---|
| Rates and taxes | R9,600 | R2,743 |
| Garden services | R10,000 | R2,857 |
| Security | R2,000 | R571 |
| Interest on bond | R60,000 | R17,142 |
| Advertisements (not apportioned — let-area-specific) | R1,000 | R1,000 |
| Insurance | R6,000 | R1,714 |
| Improvements to garage (not deductible at all) | R5,000 | R0 |
| Repairs to water-damaged carpets (not apportioned — let-area-specific) | R12,000 | R12,000 |
| Total | R105,600 | R38,027 |
Source: SARS — Tax on Rental Income page (Z's worked example, reproduced exactly)
The result:
Total deductible expenses: R38,027
Rental income: R50,000 − R38,027 = R11,973 taxable rental profit
This R11,973 is declared under source code 4210 and added to Z's other income for the year, to be taxed at Z's normal marginal rate.
• Advertisements were incurred 100% to advertise the let rooms specifically — claimed in full.
• Repairs to water-damaged carpets related specifically to the let area — claimed in full, no apportionment needed.
• Improvements to the garage are capital/private expenses entirely unrelated to the production of rental income — not deductible at all, at any percentage.
Source: SARS — Tax on Rental Income page
Rental losses, community of property, and non-resident landlords
The resulting loss may be set off against your other income — provided you can show you're conducting a bona fide trade through the letting, and provided the loss isn't "ring-fenced" under SARS's anti-avoidance rules (which can restrict habitual loss-making activities from offsetting other income indefinitely).
Source: SARS — Tax on Rental Income page; SARS — Guide on Ring-Fencing of Assessed Losses Arising from Certain Trades Conducted by Individuals
If the rental property falls into the joint estate of a marriage in community of property, the rental profit or loss is split 50:50 between both spouses. You declare the full amount after expenses on your own return — SARS apportions the 50:50 split programmatically; you don't need to manually halve the figures yourself.
Source: SARS — Tax on Rental Income page
If you're a non-resident earning rental income from South African property, that income is subject to normal South African income tax — the source of rental income is generally where the property is physically used. The same permissible expenses (rates and taxes, bond interest, insurance, repairs) may be claimed, subject to the same conditions as for residents.
Source: SARS — Tax and Non-Residents page
Frequently Asked Questions
Related guides and tools
Rental & income tax guides
Capital gains tax on property →- SARS — Tax on Rental Income — sars.gov.za/types-of-tax/personal-income-tax/tax-on-rental-income/
- SARS — Examples for Tax on Rental Income — sars.gov.za/types-of-tax/personal-income-tax/examples-for-tax-on-rental-income/
- SARS — Tax and Non-Residents — sars.gov.za/individuals/tax-during-all-life-stages-and-events/tax-and-non-residents/
- SARS — Guide on the Ring-Fencing of Assessed Losses Arising from Certain Trades Conducted by Individuals (LAPD-IT-G04) — sars.gov.za
- SARS — Comprehensive Guide to the ITR12 Income Tax Return for Individuals — sars.gov.za
- Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 — Section 11(a); Section 23
Last reviewed: June 2026. Next review: after Budget Speech February 2027 — verify income tax brackets used in the tax-impact calculation; the rental-specific expense rules have been stable for years.