What is Transfer Duty?

26/02/2020 - By Tiffany Mare

Transfer Duty is a tax levied on the value of any property acquired by any person by way of a sales transaction or in any other way.

Who pays Transfer duty?
The person acquiring the property.

When should it be paid?
Duty is payable within 6 months from the date of acquisition. If the Transfer Duty is not paid within this period, interest calculated at 10% per annum on the transfer duty amount levied by SARS for each completed month. A completed month is calculated as the first day from the expiry of the interest free 6-month period to the date of payment.

How should it be paid?
The transfer duty amount together with the transfer costs will reflect in the statement of account handed to the Purchaser by the Conveyancer. Once the transfer costs are paid to the Conveyancer, the amount due to SARS must be paid electronically via eFiling by the Conveyancer attending to the transfer.

How is it calculated?
The transfer duty is based on the highest of: the purchase price, the declared value, the fair market value. These are the Transfer Duty rates applied to properties acquired on or after 1 MARCH 2020, and apply to all persons (including Companies, Close Corporations and Trusts):

Value of the property (R) Rate


1 – 1000 000: 0%

1 000 001 – 1 375 000: 3% of the value above R1 000 000

1 375 001 – 1 925 000: R11 250 + 6% of the value above R 1 375 000

1 925 001 – 2 475 000: R44 250 + 8% of the value above R 1 925 000

2 475 001 – 11 000 000: R88 250 +11% of the value above R2 475 000

11 000 001 and above: R1 026 000 + 13% of the value exceeding R11 000 000