Living and buying in South Africa: transfer duty from R 1.21 million, the conveyancer the law prescribes and the 7.5% a non-resident meets on sale
Buying a house in South Africa is possible as a newcomer at the same transfer duty as everyone: 0% up to R 1,210,000, above that in brackets from 3% to 13%, payable within six months of the purchase. The transfer runs compulsorily through a conveyancer and the Deeds Office. Whoever later sells as a non-resident above R 2 million sees the buyer withhold 7.5% of the price for SARS. Rent first; the step-by-step plan deliberately puts the purchase after the first year.
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Yes, you can buy a house in South Africa as soon as you live there. The tax that comes with it is the same for you as for a South African. The transfer duty, the property transfer tax of SARS (the South African Revenue Service), has no separate rate for foreigners and starts only above R 1,210,000.
On top of that you pay the conveyancer: the transfer attorney without whom the Deeds Office, the office that registers ownership, registers no deed. The cost indication works with the range of prices per city. Two points need attention:
- The find is in the Transfer Duty Guide: the duty arises not at registration but on the day you acquire the right to transfer, so at the signed purchase. It must be paid within six months of that date.
- The trap comes years later: whoever sells as a non-resident (not a resident for tax purposes) above R 2 million sees the buyer withhold 7.5% of the price for SARS.
What do I pay in transfer duty?
| Value of the property | Rate from 1 April 2026 |
|---|---|
| up to R 1,210,000 | 0% |
| R 1,210,001 to R 1,663,800 | 3% of the part above R 1,210,000 |
| R 1,663,801 to R 2,329,300 | R 13,614 plus 6% of the part above R 1,663,800 |
| R 2,329,301 to R 2,994,800 | R 53,544 plus 8% of the part above R 2,329,300 |
| R 2,994,801 to R 13,310,000 | R 106,784 plus 11% of the part above R 2,994,800 |
| above R 13,310,000 | R 1,241,456 plus 13% of the part above R 13,310,000 |
The brackets are unchanged from 1 April 2026 compared with the year before. On a home of R 2 million that comes to R 13,614 plus 6% of R 336,200: over R 33,000.
A purchase that falls under VAT is exempt from transfer duty. That is the case when the seller is a VAT-registered developer. The guide explains that a transaction never falls under both.
Who does the transfer?
The Transfer Duty Guide describes the chain as SARS sees it:
- the conveyancer submits the documents;
- SARS issues the proof of payment or exemption;
- only then does the Deeds Office register the transfer in the land register.
Those same registers are public. At any Deeds Office you ask:
- who the registered owner is;
- which conditions rest on the plot;
- what the purchase price was;
- for an apartment: the rules of the sectional title scheme, South Africa's form of apartment ownership.
For that you need the erf number (the plot number) and the township (the area as named in the register), not the street address. You also need the owner's name or date of birth. Do that search before you sign. It is the South African counterpart of the Dutch land registry extract.
What changes if I am not a resident?
For the purchase nothing. For what comes after it does, and SARS is precise about it.
Rental income from South African property is taxed in South Africa, also for whoever is not a resident. The source lies where the home is used. Expenses such as rates, bond interest, insurance and repairs may be deducted.
On sale a withholding has applied since 1 September 2007. If the seller is a non-resident and the price exceeds R 2 million, the buyer withholds 7.5% and pays it to SARS, as an advance on the gains tax. Whoever makes little gain or sells at a loss applies for a lower rate with form NR03. SARS takes 21 business days for it.
Whether you are a resident for SARS depends not on your visa but on your ordinary residence or on the days: more than 91 days in the tax year, more than 91 days in each of the five preceding years and more than 915 days in those together. An emigrant who stays becomes a resident and then falls outside the withholding; whoever keeps living partly in the Netherlands does not. How that test works is in AOW, pension and tax.
Why rent first?
Because in South Africa the choice is the neighbourhood, and you only get to know it by living there. Renting needs no permit, and the Rental Housing Act, South Africa's rental law, protects your deposit.
Why you don't buy a house in your first year applies doubly here. The transfer duty and the conveyancer are paid again on a second move. The step-by-step plan therefore puts the neighbourhood before the house, and the purchase after the first year.
What about power and water?
The energy crisis that marked the country for years has turned. On 12 March 2026 Eskom, the national power utility, reported 300 days without load shedding: without the scheduled power cuts by area. Plant availability was 65.85% over the current financial year, with 53% fewer unplanned outages than a year earlier.
Still ask at a viewing about the home's provisions. An inverter with batteries, rainwater tanks or a borehole are ordinary equipment in many neighbourhoods. The question whether they are included belongs in the purchase contract.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.3: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to South Africa or go straight to step 5.3 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- SARS — the transfer duty rates from 1 April 2026: 0% up to R 1,210,000, brackets from 3% to 13% — sars.gov.za
- SARS — Transfer Duty Guide: the duty arises at the purchase and must be paid within six months of that date; the role of conveyancer and Deeds Office — sars.gov.za
- SARS — non-resident sellers of immovable property: the withholding of 7.5% above R 2 million and form NR03 — sars.gov.za
- SARS — tax and non-residents: rental income from South African property is taxed there, also for whoever is not a resident — sars.gov.za
- South African Government — information from the Deeds Registry: owner, conditions, purchase price and the rules of a sectional title scheme, by erf number — gov.za
- South African Government — Eskom: 300 days without load shedding on 12 March 2026 — gov.za
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