Net monthly pay after PAYE and UIF, from your gross salary.
Monthly take-home
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PAYE
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UIF
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Your breakdown
Updates live as you type
Item
Amount
Worked example
Take an employee under 65 on a gross salary of R35,000 a month, with no medical aid. PAYE is worked out by annualising to R420,000, taxing it on the SARS scale and deducting the primary rebate, which leaves R6,289 a month. UIF is 1% of pay, but only up to the monthly ceiling of R17,712, so it is capped at R177 even though 1% of R35,000 would be R350. Take-home pay is the gross less both deductions: R35,000 minus R6,289 minus R177, which is R28,534 a month, or about R342,400 a year before any pension or medical aid contributions.
Step
Amount
Gross monthly salary
R35,000
Less PAYE
minus R6,289
Less UIF (1% capped at R17,712)
minus R177
Monthly take-home pay
R28,534
How it is calculated
Your take-home is simply gross pay minus the statutory deductions that an employer must withhold. The larger of the two is PAYE, which is your annual income tax converted to a monthly figure after age rebates and medical scheme credits. The second is UIF at 1% of remuneration, matched by a further 1% from your employer, and it stops growing once your pay passes the monthly ceiling. The calculator does not subtract voluntary items such as pension fund contributions, group life cover or a medical aid premium, so your actual payslip net may be lower once those come off. Because PAYE is progressive, a raise lifts your deductions a little faster than your gross, which is worth modelling before you negotiate.
Frequently asked questions
What is deducted from my South African salary?
Two things come off your gross salary each month: PAYE (income tax, after age rebates and medical scheme credits) and UIF at 1% of remuneration up to the monthly ceiling. Pension and medical aid contributions and other deductions may reduce your net pay further, depending on your package.
What is the UIF ceiling for salary deductions in South Africa?
UIF is capped at a monthly remuneration ceiling, which is R17,712 per month for the 2025/26 period. Once your salary exceeds that ceiling, UIF stays fixed at 1% of R17,712, which is R177.12 per month. Your employer contributes a matching 1% on top of that and UIF contributions are also capped at the same ceiling for the employer.
How do age rebates affect my PAYE in South Africa?
SARS gives three primary rebates against income tax: the primary rebate for all taxpayers, a second rebate for those aged 65 and over, and a third rebate for those 75 and over. Each successive rebate is additional, so a taxpayer aged 75 receives all three. The effect is that older taxpayers pay less PAYE on the same gross salary because more of their tax liability is wiped out by the combined rebates.
Why does a pay rise push my effective tax rate up?
South Africa uses a progressive income tax scale with marginal rates rising from 18% to 45%. When a raise pushes your income into a higher band, only the slice in that new band is taxed at the higher rate, but your average effective rate rises because a greater proportion of your income sits in higher brackets. This calculator lets you compare two salary figures to see exactly how the effective rate changes.