Tax Emigration Calculator South Africa (2026/2027)
Work out the capital gains tax and retirement fund tax you may face when you stop being a South African tax resident.
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Tax year: 2026/2027Source: SARS — Capital Gains Tax (CGT)
Your investments
Shares, unit trusts, offshore investments, crypto and similar. Leave out property you own in South Africa. When you stop being a tax resident (South Africa no longer treats you as living here for tax), South Africa treats most of your investments as sold the day before. This is called a deemed disposal.
Your home in South Africa
Property in South Africa is not treated as sold when you leave, so it is not taxed now. Capital gains tax can still apply when you sell it later.
Your retirement funds
Retirement annuities, pension funds and provident funds. South Africa does not tax these just because you leave. Tax only comes when you take the money out, and you can only do that once you have been a non-resident for 3 years in a row.
About you
What happens when you stop being a tax resident
You are a tax resident when South Africa treats you as living here for tax. If you formally stop being one, South Africa treats most of your investments as sold the day before. This is called a deemed disposal. You do not really sell anything, but you may owe capital gains tax (CGT) on the gain as if you had. The investments are then treated as bought again at their value that day, so later gains are counted from there.
Law: section 9H of the Income Tax Act.
What is treated as sold, and what is not
| What you own | Treated as sold? |
|---|---|
| Shares, ETFs, unit trusts | Yes. CGT on the gain |
| Offshore investments | Yes. CGT on the gain |
| Cryptocurrency | Yes. CGT on the gain |
| Property in South Africa | No. It stays in the South African tax net |
| Shares in a company that mainly owns South African property | Yes. CGT on the gain |
| Retirement funds (RA, pension, provident) | No. Tax only comes when you withdraw (see below) |
| Personal-use assets | No. They are left out of CGT |
Your retirement funds are not treated as withdrawn when you leave. Tax only comes when you take money out. Since 1 September 2024, you can withdraw the retirement part of a pension fund, provident fund, preservation fund or retirement annuity only after you have been a non-resident for 3 years in a row (for a retirement annuity you must also have stopped paying into it). The old route of withdrawing because you emigrated was removed on the same date. A withdrawal like this is taxed on the lump-sum withdrawal table, not the cheaper retirement table.
What our estimate assumes: that you withdraw the whole amount you enter in one go, after the 3 years, using the withdrawal table for the tax year you pick. It cannot know the rules or your income at that time, so treat it as a planning estimate and check with SARS or a tax practitioner.
How the capital gains tax is worked out
- Your gain is what your investments are worth minus what you paid for them.
- The first R50,000 of your gain each year is tax-free (the amount for 2026/2027).
- Only 40% of what is left counts as income.
- That amount is added to your South African income for the year. Your capital gains tax is the extra income tax this causes, after your tax rebates.
The most you can pay is 18% of the gain left after the tax-free amount. That is the top tax rate of 45% on the 40% that counts.
Tax on your retirement money when you withdraw it
Retirement money you take out before you retire is taxed on the withdrawal table:
| Total withdrawn | Rate of tax |
|---|---|
| R0 – R27,500 | 0% — no tax payable |
| R27,501 – R726,000 | 18% of amount above R27,500 |
| R726,001 – R1,089,000 | R125,730 + 27% of amount above R726,000 |
| R1,089,001 and above | R223,740 + 36% of amount above R1,089,000 |
Lump sums add up over your life. If you took money out before, those withdrawals have already used the cheaper bands, so a new withdrawal starts higher up the table.
Worked examples
R3 million of investments, a R4 million home and R2 million in retirement funds
A 45-year-old has investments worth R3m (they paid R1.5m), a home in South Africa worth R4m (they paid R2m) and R2m in retirement funds with no earlier withdrawals. Their South African income that year is R800,000.
- Gain on investments
- R 1 500 000
- Tax-free part of the gain
- −R 50 000
- Gain left
- R 1 450 000
- Part that counts as income (40%)
- R 580 000
- Capital gains tax
- R 236 060
- Tax if they withdraw the retirement funds after leaving
- R 551 700
The home is left out because it is in South Africa. The retirement tax is an estimate that assumes the whole fund is withdrawn in one go, after the 3-year wait.
R500,000 of investments and R800,000 in retirement funds
A 35-year-old has investments worth R500,000 (they paid R200,000) and no property. They have R800,000 in retirement funds and already took out R100,000 earlier. Their South African income that year is R400,000.
- Gain on investments
- R 300 000
- Tax-free part of the gain
- −R 50 000
- Part that counts as income (40%)
- R 100 000
- Capital gains tax
- R 31 000
- Tax if they withdraw the retirement funds after leaving
- R 159 660
Related calculators
- Capital Gains Tax Calculator — tax on selling assets while you are still a resident
- Retirement Tax Calculator — the withdrawal and retirement lump-sum tax tables
- Currency Converter — turn offshore values into rand
Sources
Frequently Asked Questions
You are a tax resident when South Africa treats you as living here for tax. When you stop being one (for example because you have moved abroad for good and told SARS), South Africa treats most of your investments as sold the day before. This is called a deemed disposal.
It is a pretend sale. You do not sell anything, but SARS works out capital gains tax as if you sold your investments for what they were worth the day before you stopped being a tax resident. Property in South Africa is left out, but shares in a company that mainly owns South African property are not. Law: section 9H of the Income Tax Act.
No. Property in South Africa is left out of the deemed sale (section 9H(4)(a) of the Income Tax Act), so there is no capital gains tax on it when you leave. If you sell it later as a non-resident, capital gains tax can still apply. For 2026/2027, the first R3,000,000 of gain on your primary residence is tax-free.
Not just because you leave. South Africa does not treat your retirement funds as withdrawn. Tax only comes when you take the money out. Since 1 September 2024 you can withdraw the retirement part of your funds only after you have been a non-resident for 3 years in a row (for a retirement annuity you must also have stopped paying into it). That withdrawal is taxed on the lump-sum withdrawal table for 2026/2027: the first R27,500 is tax-free, then 18% up to R726,000, 27% up to R1,089,000, and 36% above that. This is higher than the retirement table.
Your gain is what your investments are worth minus what you paid. The first R50,000 of gain each year is tax-free (2026/2027). Only 40% of what is left counts as income. That amount is added to your South African income and you pay the extra income tax it causes, after your rebates. The most you can pay is 18% of the gain left after the tax-free amount.
If your new country also taxes the same gain, check whether South Africa has a double tax agreement with that country. It may give you a credit for tax you already paid. A cross-border tax adviser can help you plan, because the deemed disposal happens at the moment you stop being a tax resident.