Key takeaways
- Transfer duty is a SARS tax on acquiring property, and the purchaser is liable for it.
- On the table in force since 1 April 2025, unchanged from 1 April 2026, there is no duty on the first R1,210,000 of value; above that it rises through bands of 3%, 6%, 8%, 11% and 13%.
- R1,500,000 attracts R8,700, R2,000,000 attracts R33,786 and R5,000,000 attracts R327,356, and the same table applies to individuals, companies, close corporations and trusts.
- Where the seller is a VAT vendor selling property that forms part of its business, the sale carries VAT instead: never both.
- It is due within six months of the date of acquisition (ordinarily auction day, but later if the seller still has to confirm or sign), and your conveyancer collects it well before then, because the Deeds Office will not register a transfer without SARS's receipt.
- On an auction purchase, commission you pay and any seller's debts you agree to settle are generally added to the value the duty is worked out on.
The transfer duty table in force now
SARS publishes the rates. The table below applies to property acquired on or after 1 April 2025. It was enacted by the Rates and Monetary Amounts and Amendment of Revenue Laws Act 3 of 2026, which made it apply from that date. SARS confirms there was no change from 1 April 2026. We last checked it on 8 October 2026.
| 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 |
To work out the duty on your own figure, with the band and the arithmetic shown, use our transfer duty calculator.
One table for every purchaser
Before 23 February 2011, companies, close corporations and trusts paid a flat 8%. Since then the same sliding scale has applied to every purchaser, person or entity, and the Act sets no separate rate for buyers who live outside South Africa.
Which year's table applies
The table is fixed by the date of acquisition, not the date the transfer registers. If the agreement was concluded before 1 April 2025, the table in force on that date applies: from 1 March 2023 to 31 March 2025, for example, the nil band ended at R1,100,000. A transfer that registers late does not move into a newer table.
How to work it out, with examples
Transfer duty works like income tax. Each rate applies only to the slice of value inside its band, so crossing a threshold never makes the whole price dearer. The quick method is the fixed amount for your band plus the percentage on the excess.
Worked example: R2,000,000
- R2,000,000 falls in the band from R1,663,801 to R2,329,300.
- The value above R1,663,800 is R336,200, and 6% of that is R20,172.
- Add the band's fixed amount of R13,614. Transfer duty is R33,786.
Duty at common values
| Value | Transfer duty | As a share of the value |
|---|---|---|
| R1,000,000 | Nil | 0% |
| R1,500,000 | R8,700 | 0.58% |
| R2,000,000 | R33,786 | 1.69% |
| R2,500,000 | R67,200 | 2.69% |
| R3,500,000 | R162,356 | 4.64% |
| R5,000,000 | R327,356 | 6.55% |
| R15,000,000 | R1,461,156 | 9.74% |
These assume transfer duty rather than VAT, and no exemption. Budget on your conveyancer's figure.
What value is taxed when you buy on auction
Duty is charged on the value of the property, which on a normal purchase is the price. The Transfer Duty Act then adjusts that value in ways that matter on auction.
Added to the value
- Commission or fees you pay. Section 6(1)(a) adds any commission or fees paid or payable by the purchaser in respect of the property. Where the conditions of sale make you liable for buyer's commission, it generally goes into the value. Each auction sets its own rate in its conditions of sale; the buyer's premium explained covers how it works.
- The seller's debts you take on. Section 6(1)(c) adds anything you pay to anyone in connection with the acquisition, over and above the price. SARS's examples include the seller's arrear rates and service charges. If the conditions of sale put arrears on the purchaser, they count.
Two rules that apply to auctions
- At a Sheriff's sale in execution, only commission above 5% of the price is added. See buying repossessed property.
- SARS can normally substitute a higher fair value when it thinks a price is too low. Section 5(9) switches that power off for a bona fide sale by public auction, unless SARS is satisfied the sale was not genuine or that the parties colluded. The section 6 additions above still apply, and a deal concluded after the auction, such as an accepted post-auction offer, may not count as a sale by public auction, so ask your conveyancer how it will be valued.
Example
The hammer falls at R1,800,000 and, for illustration only, the commission to be added comes to R100,000. That is an invented figure, not anyone's rate, and your conveyancer will confirm exactly what is declared, including how any VAT on the commission is treated. Duty on R1,800,000 alone would be R21,786; on R1,900,000 it is R27,786. In the 6% band, every R100,000 added to the value adds R6,000 of duty. Our auction cost calculator adds the buyer’s premium you enter to the value before it works out the duty.
When transfer duty is payable
Liability arises on the date of acquisition. For a sale, that is the date the agreement was entered into, meaning the date the last party signed, whether or not the agreement has conditions. On an auction that is ordinarily auction day, when you sign the conditions of sale. If the seller confirms or accepts later, as with a bid subject to confirmation or a post-auction offer, it is generally the date the last party signs; ask the conveyancer which date applies.
| Point | When |
|---|---|
| Liability arises | The date of acquisition, ordinarily auction day |
| Legal deadline | Within six months of that date |
| Paid late | Interest at 10% a year for each completed month after the six months |
| In practice | Before the conveyancer lodges the transfer, because the Deeds Office will not register it without SARS's receipt (section 12) |
Nobody waits six months. Your conveyancer submits the declaration on SARS eFiling, collects the duty from you, pays SARS and receives the receipt, normally well before the deadline. Our guide to what happens after you win an auction sets out the full sequence.
Get your tax affairs in order first
SARS uses property transfers to check that both parties are registered and up to date. Outstanding returns or tax debt can hold up the receipt, so sort out your own position before you bid.
Who is responsible for paying it
The person who acquires the property. Section 3(1) of the Transfer Duty Act makes the duty payable by the purchaser, and SARS says so plainly. The conveyancer pays it on your behalf, with your money.
A contract can share costs differently, for example by having the seller carry the transfer costs. SARS's guide is clear that this does not move the legal liability. Where transfer duty applies, SARS looks to the purchaser; where VAT applies, the seller is liable to SARS for the VAT.
Bidding for someone else
If you bid as agent for another person, a company or a trust, section 16 requires you to disclose the principal's name and address, and hand over the documents appointing you, on the day the auctioneer accepts your bid. If you do not, you are presumed for transfer duty purposes, unless you can prove otherwise, to have bought for yourself, and a later transfer to the real buyer can then attract duty a second time. Bring the resolution or power of attorney when you register to bid.
Buying for a trust? It must already exist on auction day, shown by the date of its Letters of Authority from the Master: SARS's guide says a trust still to be formed cannot be nominated as purchaser, and the trustees would have to sign a new contract. A company still to be registered must ratify the contract before transfer. Either way, speak to the conveyancer before you bid.
Buying a share rather than the whole
An undivided share is not taxed as if it were a property on its own. Section 2(5) works out the duty on the value of the whole property and charges your proportion of it. Half of a R2,000,000 property attracts R16,893 (half of R33,786), not nil, even though R1,000,000 on its own would fall inside the nil band. A co-owner who takes sole ownership is exempt on the share they already held and pays only on the part acquired. This comes up when a divided joint estate goes to auction.
When VAT applies instead of transfer duty
A property sale attracts either VAT or transfer duty, never both. SARS's test: if the seller is a registered VAT vendor and the property forms part of its enterprise, the sale is a taxable supply and carries VAT, and section 9(15) of the Transfer Duty Act exempts it from duty. In every other case, transfer duty applies.
| Seller and property | Usually |
|---|---|
| A private owner selling a home | Transfer duty |
| A VAT-registered sole proprietor selling their private home | Transfer duty: the home is not part of the enterprise |
| A VAT-registered developer selling new units | VAT at 15%, the standard rate since 1 April 2018 |
| A VAT-registered business selling premises used in its enterprise | VAT at 15% |
| A whole business sold as a going concern, property included, meeting section 11(1)(e) of the VAT Act | VAT at 0%, and no transfer duty |
Read the price clause
Section 64 of the VAT Act deems a vendor's price to include VAT if the contract is silent. On auction, check whether the lot is sold plus VAT. If it is, a R3,000,000 hammer price carries R450,000 of VAT on top; had the same sale attracted transfer duty instead, the duty would have been R107,356. Settle the question before you set your limit. Our transfer duty calculator works out either case.
Estate, liquidation and business rescue sales need the same check. Deceased and insolvent estates are persons for VAT purposes, so property that formed part of a VAT vendor's business can still be sold plus VAT, and the conditions of sale should say so. If you are a VAT vendor buying for your business, you may be able to claim the VAT as input tax; confirm it with your accountant. Going-concern sales are covered in selling a business as a going concern and on our business sales page.
Exemptions, and what is not one
Section 9 lists the exemptions. These are the ones buyers and sellers of ordinary property meet most often:
| Who | Section |
|---|---|
| An heir or legatee inheriting property of a deceased person | 9(1)(e) |
| A surviving or divorced spouse taking sole ownership of property registered in the other spouse's name, because of the death or the divorce | 9(1)(i) |
| A spouse acquiring a half share by marrying in community of property | 9(1)(k) |
| A co-owner on partition, or on taking sole ownership, to the extent of their existing share | 9(1)(g) and (h) |
| Government, provincial administrations and municipalities | 9(1)(a) and (b) |
| Approved public benefit organisations, for property used for their public benefit activities | 9(1)(c) |
| A purchase that is a taxable supply for VAT | 9(15) |
Not exemptions
- Buying from a deceased estate. The inheritance exemption covers heirs and legatees, not someone who buys estate property, on auction or otherwise. A purchaser from an estate pays duty in the normal way. Sellers can read selling deceased estate property.
- Being a first-time buyer. The Act has no first-time buyer exemption; the old low-cost housing exemptions were deleted in 2002. What helps is the nil band on the first R1,210,000, which applies to everyone.
- Falling under the threshold. That is a zero rate, not an exemption, and the Deeds Office still needs a SARS receipt showing that the zero rate applies. If SARS later fixes a higher value (which it generally cannot do on a genuine public auction), duty can become payable on that higher value.
An exempt transaction still needs paperwork. SARS issues an exemption receipt through eFiling, and the Deeds Office needs it before it will register the transfer.
If the sale falls through
If a sale is cancelled before transfer registers and the property reverts completely to the seller, section 5(2)(a) limits the duty to the part of the price the seller keeps, plus anything you pay for the cancellation. If what the seller keeps, a forfeited deposit for example, is small, the duty on it may be little or nothing; your conveyancer works it out. Where duty has already been paid, the conveyancer applies for any refund with the cancellation agreement and supporting documents. SARS's guide says refunds are possible only in very exceptional circumstances, and the claim must be made within five years of the date the duty was paid.
That is the tax side only. Defaulting on an auction purchase is expensive in its own right, and the conditions of sale set the consequences. If you are in trouble with a purchase, speak to an attorney early.
Budgeting for it before you bid
- Read the conditions of sale for three things: whether the price is plus VAT, the buyer's commission, and whether arrear rates or levies become yours.
- Ask a conveyancer for the duty at two or three bid levels. It steps up with the price, and commission steps it up again. Our auction cost calculator gives a first figure at any bid, with the premium, deposit and VAT from your lot’s conditions of sale.
- Fund it separately. Plan to pay transfer duty from your own money or finance arranged in advance, and do not assume a bond covers it. Conveyancing fees, Deeds Office fees and any clearance costs the conditions of sale place on you are a separate bill, set out in the costs of buying property on auction.
- Keep the receipt. SARS counts transfer duty and an auctioneer's remuneration as costs of acquiring the asset, so they form part of its base cost for capital gains tax when you eventually sell.
Our catalogue is on upcoming auctions, property auctions explains how our property sales run, and buying on auction covers registration and the day itself. If a lot's conditions of sale leave the VAT or commission position unclear, ask us before you register, not after the hammer falls.