How the transfer duty calculator works
Last updated 9 November 2026
Transfer duty is a tax the buyer pays to SARS when a property changes hands. It is worked out on the purchase price, or on the market value if that is higher, and it must be paid before the Deeds Office will register the property in your name.
Like income tax, transfer duty is charged on a sliding scale. The price is split into bands, and each band is taxed at its own rate. Only the part of the price that falls inside a band is taxed at that band’s rate. For the 2026/27 tax year the bands are:
- R 0 to R 1 210 000: no duty
- R 1 210 001 to R 1 663 800: 3% of the value above R 1 210 000
- R 1 663 801 to R 2 329 300: R 13 614 plus 6% of the value above R 1 663 800
- R 2 329 301 to R 2 994 800: R 53 544 plus 8% of the value above R 2 329 300
- R 2 994 801 to R 13 310 000: R 106 784 plus 11% of the value above R 2 994 800
- Above R 13 310 000: R 1 241 456 plus 13% of the value above R 13 310 000
The calculator finds the band your price falls into and applies that band’s formula. If you buy from a VAT-registered developer, VAT is already in the price and there is no transfer duty, so the calculator shows R 0.
Worked example
Say you buy a home for R 2 000 000 from a private seller. This is the calculator’s starting value.
- R 2 000 000 falls in the band that starts above R 1 663 800.
- The duty for that band is R 13 614, plus 6% of the R 336 200 above R 1 663 800.
- That comes to R 33 786 in transfer duty.
- As a share of the price, that is 1.69%.
The share rises with the price, because higher bands carry higher rates. A R 1 500 000 home pays R 8 700 in duty, while a R 3 000 000 home pays R 107 356.
What the figures mean
- Transfer duty is the tax on the purchase, paid to SARS through your conveyancer.
- Duty as a share of the price is the duty divided by the price. It shows how much of your budget goes to duty.
- Transfer attorney fees pay the conveyancer who registers the property in your name. The seller usually chooses the conveyancer, but the buyer pays.
- Bond attorney fees pay the attorney who registers your bond at the Deeds Office. You only pay these if you take a bond.
- Deeds Office fees are the government’s fees for registering the transfer and the bond.
- Total upfront costs add the duty to any fees you entered from your quotes.
Things to watch
- These costs are paid in cash, on top of your deposit. Most banks do not include them in the bond.
- Attorney fees follow a guideline tariff and differ between firms, so the calculator does not estimate them. Ask for a written quote and add the figures here.
- If the price includes VAT because the seller is a VAT-registered developer, there is no transfer duty. Check the sale agreement to be sure.
- Duty bands can change in the Budget Speech each February. The figures here apply to the 2026/27 tax year.
- To see the monthly cost of the bond, use the bond repayment calculator. To see what you could afford, use the bond affordability calculator.
Sources
The transfer duty bands are the SARS rates for the 2026/27 tax year, unchanged from the year before, and were checked against published 2026/27 tax tables. All figures were last checked on 9 November 2026, and the full list of sources is at the bottom of this page.