Taxable net rental profit after deductible expenses, and the tax payable.
Tax on rental income
—
Net rental profit
—
Net rent after tax
—
Rent is income, but only the profit is taxed
SARS treats rent from a property you let as ordinary income, added to your salary, business profit and everything else, then taxed at your marginal rate. The relief is that you are taxed on the profit, not the gross rent. You may deduct the costs incurred to earn that rent: bond interest, municipal rates, levies, insurance and maintenance. This calculator nets those expenses off the rent, adds the result to your other income, and shows the extra tax the rental actually triggers. The figure it produces is the marginal cost of the rental, not a standalone tax on rent in isolation.
The difference method, and why it matters
The clever bit is that the tool works out your tax with the rental and your tax without it, then takes the difference. That is exactly how the real cost behaves, because the rental profit lands on top of your existing income and is taxed at whatever bands it reaches. It is not a flat percentage. Depending on where your other income sits, the same rental profit can be taxed partly at one rate and partly at the next, a blended marginal hit. The SARS bands and rebates drive this, and those rate figures are the ones to confirm, but the add on top mechanism is settled.
A let flat with R500,000 of other income
Take R180,000 of annual rent, against R90,000 bond interest, R24,000 rates and levies, and R12,000 maintenance, for a landlord under 65 already earning R500,000 elsewhere. Here is what the engine computes, using the rates this calculator applies.
| Step | Working | Amount |
|---|
The R54,000 profit leaves about R35,200 after tax. Notice the tax of R18,800 is roughly 34.8 percent of the profit, higher than the 31 percent band you might expect, because the R500,000 base sits near the top of the 31 percent band and the rental profit pushes the last R41,200 of it into the 36 percent band. That straddle is exactly why a flat percentage would mislead you.
When the property runs at a loss
Flip the numbers and the tool behaves differently. If your bond interest and running costs exceed the rent, the net rental is negative, and that loss can usually be set off against your other income, lowering your overall tax. In that case the calculator shows a tax saving rather than a tax cost. This is common in the early years of a bond, when interest is high. One caution from the structure: SARS can ring fence rental losses in certain circumstances, so a persistent loss on a property let to a connected person may not always offset freely. Capital improvements, unlike repairs, are never deductible against rent, they adjust your base cost for capital gains tax later.
A record-keeping tip landlords forget
The deductions only help if you can prove them, so keep every invoice for repairs, the rates account, the levy statements and the bank's annual interest certificate. A practical tip: separate repairs from improvements carefully, fixing a leaking roof is a deductible repair, but adding a second storey is a capital improvement that does not reduce this year's rental tax. Misclassifying the two is one of the most common ways landlords either overpay or fall foul of an audit.
Can I deduct my bond capital repayments?
No, only the interest portion of your bond instalment is deductible, not the capital you repay. The capital repayment builds your equity in the property, so SARS does not treat it as a cost of earning rent. This trips up many first time landlords who deduct the whole instalment, so split your bank statement into interest and capital before claiming.
Does this tool tell me my final tax bill?
It shows the extra tax your rental adds, or the saving a loss creates, given the other income you enter. For your complete annual tax across all income, use a full income tax calculator. Think of this as isolating the rental decision, what does owning this let property actually cost or save me in tax this year.