How the take-home pay calculator works
Last updated 9 November 2026
Your take-home pay is what reaches your bank account after your employer takes off tax and other deductions. This calculator works it out using the SARS tax tables for the 2026/27 tax year, which runs from 1 March 2026 – 28 February 2027.
It starts with your gross salary and adds any bonus to get your income for the year. Contributions to a pension fund, provident fund or retirement annuity (RA) come off next, because SARS lets you deduct them before tax, up to a limit. What is left is your taxable income.
The calculator then applies the income tax brackets. South Africa has a progressive system: each slice of your income is taxed at its own rate, from 18% on the first slice up to 45% on income above R 1 878 600. Moving into a higher bracket only raises the tax on the rands above that line, never on your whole salary.
From that total it subtracts your rebates and any medical scheme fees tax credits, then splits the yearly tax into 12 equal monthly PAYE amounts. Finally, it takes off UIF and your retirement contributions to show what you take home.
Worked example
Say you earn R 30 000 a month, you are under 65, you are not on a medical aid, and you make no retirement contributions. These are the calculator’s starting values.
- Your income for the year is R 30 000 × 12 = R 360 000.
- That falls in the bracket that starts at R 245 100. The tax is R 44 118 plus 26% of everything above R 245 100, which comes to R 73 992.
- Take off the primary rebate of R 17 820 and you owe R 56 172 for the year.
- PAYE is R 56 172 ÷ 12 = R 4 681.00 a month.
- UIF is 1% of your salary, capped at R 177.12 a month, so you pay R 177.12.
- Your take-home pay is R 30 000 − R 4 681.00 − R 177.12 = R 25 141.88 a month.
Your effective tax rate is 15.6%. That is the share of your total income that goes to tax. Your marginal rate is 26%, the rate SARS charges on your next rand of income. It matters when you think about a raise, a bonus or an extra retirement contribution.
What the figures mean
- PAYE (Pay As You Earn) is the income tax your employer takes off each month and pays to SARS for you.
- UIF is the Unemployment Insurance Fund. You pay 1% of your salary, up to R 177.12 a month, and your employer pays the same again. It can pay you if you lose your job, and during maternity leave or long illness.
- Rebates reduce everyone’s tax. Everyone gets the primary rebate of R 17 820 a year. From 65 you also get R 9 765, and from 75 another R 3 249. That is why you pay no tax on income below R 99 000 a year if you are under 65, R 153 250 if you are 65 to 74, and R 171 300 from 75.
- Medical scheme fees tax credits apply if you pay for medical aid. You get R 376 a month for yourself, R 376 for your first dependant and R 254 for each one after that. They cut your tax rand for rand, but can’t take it below zero.
- The retirement deduction lets you deduct contributions to a pension, provident or retirement annuity fund, up to 27.5% of your income and no more than R 430 000 a year.
Things to watch
- Your payslip may not match this exactly every month. Payroll works out PAYE month by month, so a bonus month, overtime or a travel allowance changes the tax in that month.
- A bonus is taxed at your marginal rate. The calculator adds it to your yearly income and spreads the tax over 12 months, but in practice more tax comes off in the month you are paid the bonus.
- If your employer pays part of your medical aid or retirement contributions, that part counts as a taxable fringe benefit on your payslip. You then get the deduction or credit on the full amount, so your payslip lines may look different from the figures here.
- The additional medical expenses tax credit is not included. It can help people aged 65 or older, and people with high medical costs, and you claim it when you file your tax return.
- Other deductions such as union fees, staff loans or garnishee orders are not included.
Sources
The tax brackets, rebates and thresholds come from the rates SARS publishes for the 2026/27 tax year. The medical credits, UIF ceiling and retirement deduction limit were checked against published 2026/27 tax tables and Budget 2026 summaries. All figures were last checked on 9 November 2026, and the full list of sources is at the bottom of this page.