TDC01 — The Complete Guide to the Transfer Duty Declaration

Reviewed & Verified
Written by the Independent Editorial Team · Reviewed & Verified by Solly Maanaso, CA(SA)

The TDC01 is the declaration submitted to SARS for every property transaction subject to Transfer Duty. This guide explains how it works, who actually completes it, and the form enhancements introduced in December 2025.

Quick Facts
Form TDC01
Who completes it The conveyancing attorney
Submitted via SARS eFiling

What is the TDC01?

The TDC01 is the Transfer Duty Declaration submitted to SARS via eFiling for every property transaction subject to Transfer Duty. It replaced five separate older declaration forms, consolidated into a single, dynamic HTML form.

Source: SARS — Guide for Transfer Duty via eFiling

A wizard customises the form for each transaction:
Rather than presenting every possible field at once, the TDC01 opens a guided wizard that determines which fields you actually need, based on the transaction type, its tax-exemption status, and other transaction-specific factors.

Mandatory fields are shown in red: As with other modernised SARS forms, mandatory containers are clearly marked in red.

Source: SARS — Guide for Transfer Duty via eFiling

Who completes the TDC01?

In practice, your conveyancing attorney handles the TDC01, not you directly. The form requires details and signatures from the seller, the purchaser, and the conveyancer — the conveyancer's signature appears at the bottom of the declaration.

Source: SARS — Guide for Transfer Duty via eFiling

The conveyancer must register first: Before completing a TDC01, the conveyancer registers on eFiling and is allocated a conveyancer registration number (format TD-XXXXXXX), via the RC01 registration process.

Source: SARS — Guide for Transfer Duty via eFiling

A unique number is generated per transaction: Once a Transfer Duty Financial Account Number has been assigned, a unique TD Number is automatically generated for each individual transaction, visible on the Transfer Duty Work Page.

Source: SARS — Guide for Transfer Duty via eFiling

The wizard and built-in calculator

Once the wizard's questions are answered, the relevant containers open for completion. The form also includes a built-in calculator — triggering it displays your calculated transfer duty under the "Calculation of Duty and Penalty/Interest" container.

Source: SARS — Guide for Transfer Duty via eFiling

This figure is only an indication:
The Total Payable shown on the form is only an indication of the final amount — SARS may still conduct a revised assessment, which could change the actual amount due.

Source: SARS — Guide for Transfer Duty via eFiling

Supporting documents and payment

Documents are only needed if SARS asks:
Supporting documents are no longer mandatory when submitting a TDC01 — you'll only need to provide them if SARS specifically requests them via eFiling.
Payment comes after approval, not before:
Payment is only required once the declaration has been approved or accepted by SARS — not at the point of submission.
You can only print a receipt once payment is confirmed:
Receipts can only be printed once SARS has confirmed that payment has been received in full in its bank account.

Source: SARS — Guide for Transfer Duty via eFiling

If you need to cancel a declaration

A submitted TDC01 can be cancelled electronically, at any time before payment has been made.

Source: SARS — Guide for Transfer Duty via eFiling

Cancelling after payment is treated as a refund request:
If you request cancellation after payment has already been made, SARS automatically treats this as a refund request instead — and you'll need to attach supporting documents to process that refund.

Source: SARS — Guide for Transfer Duty via eFiling

Checking on a submitted declaration: You can request the status of a previously submitted declaration at any time.

Source: SARS — Guide for Transfer Duty via eFiling

What changed in December 2025

On 8 December 2025, SARS announced enhancements to the TDC01 — intended to simplify compliance, reduce inaccurate declarations, and improve tax revenue collection.

Source: SARS — Enhancements to Transfer Duty Declaration

Change Detail
Tax reference numbers now required For both sellers and purchasers. For individuals, this only applies to transactions above R2 million.
"Annual income" field removed No longer applicable or visible on the form.
New marital status option A "Divorced" option has been added.
New "not registered for income tax" field Applies only to individual purchasers — a radio button, with a drop-down to select the reason.

Source: SARS — Enhancements to Transfer Duty Declaration


Frequently Asked Questions

The Transfer Duty Declaration submitted to SARS via eFiling for property transactions subject to Transfer Duty — it consolidated five older forms into one dynamic HTML form.

In practice, your conveyancing attorney handles it — the form requires the seller's, purchaser's, and conveyancer's details and signatures, with the conveyancer's signature at the bottom.

No. The Total Payable shown by the form's built-in calculator is only an indication — SARS may still conduct a revised assessment.

Not automatically. Supporting documents are only required if SARS specifically requests them via eFiling.

SARS automatically treats this as a refund request instead of a simple cancellation, and you'll need to attach supporting documents to process the refund. Cancelling before payment is straightforward and can be done electronically at any time.

Tax reference numbers are now required for both sellers and purchasers (for individuals, only above R2 million transactions); the "Annual income" field was removed; a "Divorced" marital status option was added; and a new field lets individual purchasers indicate they aren't registered for income tax.

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Sources and references

All transfer duty declaration information on this page is sourced from, or verified against, the following official and authoritative references:

  1. Transfer Duty Act 40 of 1949Primary legislation governing transfer duty
  2. SARS — Transfer Duty Overviewsars.gov.za/types-of-tax/transfer-duty/
  3. SARS — eFiling Formssars.gov.za/list-of-sars-efiling-forms/

This page was last reviewed in June 2026. Next review: immediately upon any further TDC01 enhancement announcement.