Calculator · Buying property on auction
What will it cost on top of my bid?
Enter your bid and the buyer’s premium and deposit from the conditions of sale for the lot. The calculator adds the VAT on the premium, transfer duty or VAT on the price, the Deeds Office fees and your bond, and shows what you pay to the auctioneer, before transfer and on registration.
Nothing is pre-filled: every auction sets its own premium and deposit in its conditions of sale
Calculator
Your bid, and everything on top.
This calculator needs JavaScript, which is switched off or blocked in your browser. The method and the official figures below let you work it out by hand.
Key takeaways
- On a private auction, including ours, the deposit and the buyer’s premium are set by each auction’s conditions of sale, not by law. Enter them from the conditions for your lot: nothing here is pre-filled.
- Buyers pay the deposit at the fall of the hammer, and the premium and its VAT when the conditions of sale say. The deposit is part of the price; the premium, and the VAT on it, are on top.
- Transfer duty is generally worked out on the bid plus the premium and any seller’s debts you take on, unless the sale carries VAT instead (never both).
- Deeds Office fees are fixed by regulation (the schedule gazetted on 27 February 2026) and are included. Conveyancers’ fees are negotiable, so they are not: ask the conveyancer named in the conditions of sale for a pro forma account.
- A bond pays the balance of the price on registration. It does not fund the deposit or the premium, and it pays nothing before registration.
The method
How it works it out, so you can check it.
- Deposit and premium: the deposit (the deposit percentage times your bid, part of the price) and the buyer’s premium, also called buyer’s commission (the premium percentage times your bid), with VAT at 15% on the premium, paid as the conditions of sale set out.
- Transfer duty: on SARS’s table, worked out on your bid plus the premium and any seller’s debts you agree to pay (Transfer Duty Act section 6(1)(a) and (c)). If the sale carries VAT instead, there is no transfer duty: VAT at 15% is either inside the price (15/115 of it) or added to it.
- Deeds Office: the registration fee for the transfer, on the price, and for the bond, on the amount borrowed, plus a lodgement fee of R52 for each deed. If the premium and the seller’s debts would put the transfer fee in a higher band, it says by how much.
- On registration: the balance of the price (your bid less the deposit, plus VAT if the lot is sold plus VAT). Your bond pays this part, up to the amount you borrow; the rest comes from your own funds.
- Cash you need is the total of all of that, less what the bond pays.
Then add what only a conveyancer or a bank can quote: the conveyancer’s fee, VAT and disbursements; the bond attorney’s fee and the bank’s charges; and whatever the conditions of sale make yours, such as compliance certificates, occupational rent and insurance from the date risk passes. Our guide to the costs of buying property on auction explains each one.
The official figures
Rates and fees set by law.
VAT at 15%, the standard rate under section 7(1)(a) of the Value-Added Tax Act since 1 April 2018. Transfer duty on SARS’s table for property acquired on or after 1 April 2025, unchanged from 1 April 2026. Deeds Office fees from the Schedule of Fees of Office gazetted on 27 February 2026 (GN 7180), in operation one month after publication. All checked on 8 October 2026.
Transfer duty
| Value of the property | Transfer duty |
|---|---|
| R0 to R1,210,000 | Nil |
| R1,210,001 to R1,663,800 | 3% of the value above R1,210,000 |
| R1,663,801 to R2,329,300 | R13,614 plus 6% of the value above R1,663,800 |
| R2,329,301 to R2,994,800 | R53,544 plus 8% of the value above R2,329,300 |
| R2,994,801 to R13,310,000 | R106,784 plus 11% of the value above R2,994,800 |
| R13,310,001 and above | R1,241,456 plus 13% of the value above R13,310,000 |
Deeds Office fee: transfer
| Price (or fair value, if greater) | Fee |
|---|---|
| Up to R100,000 | R50 |
| R100,001 to R200,000 | R114 |
| R200,001 to R300,000 | R727 |
| R300,001 to R600,000 | R956 |
| R600,001 to R800,000 | R1,346 |
| R800,001 to R1,000,000 | R1,546 |
| R1,000,001 to R2,000,000 | R1,738 |
| R2,000,001 to R4,000,000 | R2,408 |
| R4,000,001 to R6,000,000 | R2,922 |
| R6,000,001 to R8,000,000 | R3,480 |
| R8,000,001 to R10,000,000 | R4,068 |
| R10,000,001 to R15,000,000 | R4,844 |
| R15,000,001 to R20,000,000 | R5,818 |
| Over R20,000,000 | R7,751 |
Deeds Office fee: bond
| Amount of the bond | Fee |
|---|---|
| Up to R150,000 | R561 |
| R150,001 to R300,000 | R727 |
| R300,001 to R600,000 | R956 |
| R600,001 to R800,000 | R1,346 |
| R800,001 to R1,000,000 | R1,546 |
| R1,000,001 to R2,000,000 | R1,738 |
| R2,000,001 to R4,000,000 | R2,408 |
| R4,000,001 to R6,000,000 | R2,922 |
| R6,000,001 to R8,000,000 | R3,480 |
| R8,000,001 to R10,000,000 | R4,068 |
| R10,000,001 to R15,000,000 | R4,844 |
| R15,000,001 to R20,000,000 | R5,818 |
| R20,000,001 to R30,000,000 | R6,781 |
| Over R30,000,000 | R9,690 |
Plus a lodgement fee of R52 for each deed or document lodged. The transfer fee is charged on the purchase price plus any additional consideration, or the property’s fair value if that is greater, so the conveyancer’s figure can fall in a higher band than the bid alone. The transfer duty table, with a worked example, is also on the transfer duty calculator.
Common questions
Auction costs, answered.
What do I pay on top of my bid when I buy property on auction?
The buyer’s premium (often called buyer’s commission) and the VAT on it, as and when the conditions of sale set them. The deposit is not on top: it is part of the price. Before transfer, transfer duty (unless the sale carries VAT instead, which is part of the price and paid with it), Deeds Office fees, the conveyancer’s fees and any seller’s debts the conditions of sale put on you. With a bond, its registration costs and the bank’s fees too. This calculator adds up everything with an official rate, and lists the rest for you to ask about.
Is the deposit paid on top of the bid?
No. The deposit is part of the price, so it counts towards your bid rather than adding to it. The catch is timing: it is due at the fall of the hammer, from your own funds, because a home loan pays out only when transfer registers. Each auction sets the deposit percentage in its conditions of sale.
Does the calculator add VAT to the buyer's premium?
Yes, at 15%, unless you untick “Add VAT at 15% to the premium”. Where the auctioneer is a VAT vendor, VAT generally applies to the premium at the standard rate under section 7(1)(a) of the VAT Act, and Dynamic Auctioneers is registered for VAT (VAT number 4050206442). Check whether the conditions of sale quote the premium with or without VAT: a VAT vendor’s price is deemed to include VAT when the contract is silent.
Can my bond pay the deposit and the transfer costs?
Plan for it not to. A bond pays the balance of the price when transfer registers. It does not fund the deposit or the buyer’s premium, and it pays nothing that falls due before registration, transfer duty included. If the bank values the property below your bid, the gap is yours to find.
Why does the calculator not show the conveyancer's fee?
Because no law fixes it. The Law Society of South Africa publishes a guideline and says its fees are negotiable and neither a minimum nor a maximum. Deeds Office fees are different: they are fixed by regulation, so the calculator includes them. Ask the conveyancer named in the conditions of sale for a pro forma account at your top bid.
Read more
Before you raise your hand.
What buying property on auction really costs
Every cost on top of the hammer price: deposit, buyer's commission and VAT, transfer duty, conveyancing and Deeds Office fees, bonds, rates and levies.
Read the guide Costs and tax · 13 minBuyer’s premium: what it costs, and how to bid with it
What a buyer's premium (buyer's commission) is at South African auctions, where the rate is disclosed, how VAT and transfer duty apply, and setting a top bid.
Read the guide Buying · 13 minCan you buy property on auction with a bond?
Yes, you can use a bond, but an auction sale is normally not subject to it. Pre-approval, the deposit on the day, guarantees by a deadline, if finance fails.
Read the guideFound a lot you like?
The conditions of sale for each auction set its premium and deposit. Ask us for them before you register, and we will answer anything in them that is unclear.
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