· Built around the Bonus tax calculator
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Every December someone opens a payslip and wonders why a third of their bonus is gone when the salary only lost a fifth. Nothing is wrong. SARS taxes a bonus as an "annual payment": the payroll works out the tax on your year with and without it, and takes the whole difference in the month it is paid. This post works that sum on the SARS tables for 1 March 2026 to 28 February 2027, checks it against two published examples, and shows what - legally - changes the answer. The bonus tax calculator below does the same for your numbers.
Run your own numbers
Type your monthly salary and the gross bonus. The calculator works out the tax on twelve months of salary, then on the salary plus the bonus, and shows the difference as the PAYE on the bonus.
How SARS taxes a bonus
- There is no bonus tax rate. A bonus or 13th cheque is ordinary income - SARS calls it an annual payment, because it is not paid every pay period.
- Step 1: tax on your annual salary. Monthly salary x 12, through the tax table, less the R17 820 primary rebate (under 65).
- Step 2: tax on the salary plus the bonus, the same way.
- Step 3: the difference is the PAYE on the bonus. Your employer withholds all of it in the bonus month.
- So every rand of the bonus is taxed at your top rate - none of it gets the 18% band or the rebate, because the salary already used them up. That is why it looks harsher.
- It is not extra tax. On assessment the bonus is simply part of the year's income; if the payroll got it right, filing changes nothing.
Checked against two published examples
Before publishing, CalcSA ran the same inputs through its calculators and got the same answers:
- R480 000 a year plus a R50 000 bonus: R15 500 tax, R34 500 paid out - the worked example on CalcForLife's South Africa bonus tax calculator (2026/27, 3 August 2026). Our bonus tax calculator gives R15 500.00 with R40 000 a month and a R50 000 bonus.
- R20 000 a month: R25 380 tax for the year, R2 115 a month - Govchain's PAYE worked example on the 2026/27 tables (13 May 2026). Our take-home pay calculator uses the same annual tax figure. Govchain's R40 000 example, R92 217 for the year, is also our step 1 in the next section.
Worked example 1: R40 000 a month, R50 000 bonus
- Salary for the year: R480 000. That sits in the 31% band: R79 998 + 31% of R96 900 = R110 037, less the R17 820 rebate = R92 217.
- With the bonus: R530 000. R79 998 + 31% of R146 900 = R125 537, less R17 820 = R107 717.
- PAYE on the bonus: R107 717 - R92 217 = R15 500, exactly 31% of the bonus, because R530 000 stays just under the 36% band at R530 200.
- The salary's own rate is far lower: R92 217 on R480 000 is 19.2%. Same tax table - the bonus just lands on top.
Make the bonus R80 000 instead and the year reaches R560 000, so R29 800 of it crosses into the 36% band. The PAYE on the bonus rises to R26 290 - 32.9%. Only the slice above R530 200 pays 36%; the rest stays at 31%.
Photo: Karola G on Pexels (free licence)
Worked example 2: the December payslip on R28 000
- Normal month: R4 161 PAYE - R336 000 a year is R44 118 + 26% of R90 900 = R67 752, less R17 820 = R49 932, a twelfth of which is R4 161.
- 13th cheque of R28 000: R7 280 PAYE - the year with it is R364 000, taxed R57 212, and R57 212 - R49 932 = R7 280 (26%).
- December gross R56 000, less R4 161 and R7 280 = R44 559 before UIF and any other deductions. The bonus itself pays out R20 720.
- UIF does not grow with the bonus once you are at the ceiling: it is 1% of pay up to R17 712 a month, so R177.12 at most (UIF calculator).
Worked example 3: when a bonus is tax-free
- Under 65, you pay no income tax on the first R99 000 of the year - the 2026/27 tax threshold, where 18% of the income equals the R17 820 rebate (tax threshold calculator).
- R7 000 a month with a R7 000 13th cheque is R91 000 - under the threshold, so no PAYE at all on salary or bonus.
- R8 000 a month with a R8 000 bonus is R104 000 - R5 000 over the threshold, so the bonus pays R900 (18% of R5 000) and pays out R7 100.
- Over 65 the threshold is R153 250, and over 75 it is R171 300 - pick your age band in the calculator.
Ways to keep more of it - legally
- Put part of it into a retirement annuity. Contributions are deductible up to 27.5% of income, capped at R430 000 a year from March 2026. At a 31% top rate, R10 000 into an RA saves R3 100 of tax. Through payroll the saving shows on the payslip; otherwise it comes back on assessment (RA tax back calculator, tax refund calculator).
- Bonus or raise makes no difference to the year's tax. A R50 000 bonus and a R4 167 a month raise add the same income, so they cost the same. The monthly raise is just taxed a little at a time - see the salary increase calculator.
- Negotiating a net amount? Work backwards from the take-home you want with the net to gross calculator.
- Do not ask the payroll to "spread" the tax to get more in December - the tax for the year is the same, and if too little is withheld you pay it on assessment.
What this calculator leaves out. Pension, provident or RA contributions through payroll, medical aid credits and fringe benefits all change the figures. Payroll software may also round or spread the tax slightly differently - SARS allows small differences between its tables and payroll programs. Your IRP5 and assessment are what count.
Sources
- SARS, rates of tax for individuals, 2027 tax year (1 March 2026 to 28 February 2027): brackets, R17 820 / R9 765 / R3 249 rebates and the R99 000 / R153 250 / R171 300 thresholds: sars.gov.za, read by CalcSA 16 October 2026.
- SARS, what is meant by annual payments (bonus method): sars.gov.za FAQ; method also in the SARS Guide for Employers in respect of Employees' Tax (2027). The 2027 guide itself was not opened for this post.
- Worked example, R480 000 + R50 000 bonus = R15 500: CalcForLife, South Africa bonus tax calculator, 3 August 2026, read 16 October 2026.
- Worked examples, R20 000 a month = R25 380 / R2 115 and R40 000 = R92 217: Govchain, how to calculate PAYE (2026/2027 tables), 13 May 2026, read 16 October 2026.
- UIF 1% up to R17 712 a month and the RA deduction cap of R430 000 from 1 March 2026: the SARS 2026/27 figures the CalcSA take-home pay calculator uses, checked 15 October 2026.
Calculators used in this post
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