Transfer Duty & Bond Cost Calculator (South Africa) 2026
Work out the total cost of buying a property in South Africa, transfer duty plus conveyancing and bond registration costs, and the cash you need on top of your deposit.
Property purchase cost estimate
Transfer Duty & Bond Cost Calculator
Work out the full cash cost of buying a home in South Africa: transfer duty, conveyancing fees, bond registration and Deeds Office fees.
The price you are paying for the property. Transfer duty and the attorney and Deeds Office fees are all worked out from this.
A new home bought from a VAT-registered developer has 15% VAT built into the price, so you pay no transfer duty. A resale of an existing home pays transfer duty on the SARS scale.
A home loan adds bond registration costs. A cash purchase skips them, so you only pay the transfer side.
What you pay in cash up front. Your bond (home loan) covers the rest, and the bond costs are worked out on that loan amount. Set to 0 for a 100% bond.
đź’¬ Questions about buying costs? Discuss this tool on the forum →
Work out the full cost of buying a home in South Africa
The price on the listing is only part of what it costs to buy a home. On top of it you pay transfer duty to SARS, a conveyancing attorney to transfer the property into your name, a bond attorney to register your home loan, and the Deeds Office to record it all. This free transfer duty and bond cost calculator adds every one of those costs up for your price and deposit, so you know the real cash you need before you make an offer. It is a bond and transfer cost calculator, a transfer duty calculator and a bond registration cost calculator in one.
There are two sides to the cost. The transfer side is paid to the transferring attorney and to SARS: transfer duty, the conveyancing fee plus VAT, and the Deeds Office transfer fee. The bond side only applies if you take a home loan, and is paid to the bond attorney and your bank: the bond registration fee plus VAT, the Deeds Office bond fee, and the bank’s once-off initiation fee. A bigger deposit shrinks the loan and the bond costs, and a cash buyer skips the bond side completely. The calculator shows both sides and the total cash you need to have ready. You can also switch between a resale of an existing home and a new build from a developer, where the price includes VAT and no transfer duty is charged.
South Africa transfer duty rates for 2025/26
These are the SARS transfer duty rates in force from 1 April 2025, and they still apply for the 2026/27 year. Duty is charged on a sliding scale, so only the part of the price that falls in each band is taxed at that band’s rate, and there is no duty at all on the first R1,210,000.
| Property value | Transfer duty |
|---|---|
| R0 – R1,210,000 | No transfer duty |
| R1,210,001 – R1,663,800 | 3% of the value above R1,210,000 |
| R1,663,801 – R2,329,300 | R13,614 + 6% of the value above R1,663,800 |
| R2,329,301 – R2,994,800 | R53,544 + 8% of the value above R2,329,300 |
| R2,994,801 – R13,310,000 | R106,784 + 11% of the value above R2,994,800 |
| R13,310,001 and above | R1,241,456 + 13% of the value above R13,310,000 |
The same rates apply to individuals, companies, close corporations and trusts. Transfer duty is separate from the attorney and Deeds Office fees, and it is not charged VAT.
A worked example
Take a R1,500,000 home bought with a 10 percent deposit of R150,000 and a R1,350,000 bond. Transfer duty is 3 percent of the R290,000 above the threshold, which is R8,700. The conveyancing fee on R1,500,000 is about R31,520 before VAT, so R36,248 with VAT, and the Deeds Office transfer fee is R1,738. With roughly R2,400 of post, petties and FICA, the transfer side comes to about R49,086. On the bond side, the bond registration fee on R1,350,000 is about R33,891 with VAT, the Deeds Office bond fee is R1,738, the bank initiation fee is R6,037.50 and disbursements about R1,800, so the bond side is about R43,467. Together that is around R92,553 in costs, about 6.2 percent of the price, and with the R150,000 deposit you need roughly R242,553 in cash to buy.
What buying costs at different prices
This table shows the transfer duty and the total buying costs (transfer costs plus bond costs) at some common South African prices, for an individual buyer taking a bond with a 10 percent deposit. Tap any price to open it in the calculator and change the deposit or switch to a cash purchase.
| Purchase price | Transfer duty | Total buying costs |
|---|---|---|
| R900 000 | None | R66 966 |
| R1 210 000 | None | R79 136 |
| R1 500 000 | R8 700 | R92 552 |
| R2 000 000 | R33 786 | R127 068 |
| R2 500 000 | R67 200 | R175 968 |
| R3 000 000 | R107 356 | R225 552 |
| R5 000 000 | R327 356 | R491 374 |
Total buying costs assume a bond of 90 percent of the price with a 10 percent deposit, and include a typical estimate for post, petties, FICA and search fees. Your own quote will vary, so use the calculator for your exact price and deposit.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to buy a house in South Africa, over and above the price?
As a rule of thumb, budget around 8 to 10 percent of the purchase price for the costs on top of the price, a bit less if the home is under the R1,210,000 transfer duty threshold, and a bit more on pricier homes where duty climbs. The main costs are transfer duty to SARS, the conveyancing attorney's fee for transferring the property into your name, the bond registration costs if you are taking a home loan, the Deeds Office registration fees, and small disbursements like FICA, postage and deeds searches. The calculator adds all of these up for your price and deposit.
What is transfer duty and who pays it?
Transfer duty is a tax you pay to SARS when a property is transferred into your name. The buyer pays it, not the seller, and the conveyancing attorney collects it and pays it over to SARS before the transfer can register. It is worked out on a sliding scale set by SARS, and since 1 April 2025 the first R1,210,000 of the price is free of duty. The same rates apply to individuals, companies and trusts.
How much transfer duty will I pay?
It depends on the price. Duty is charged on a sliding scale, so only the slice of the price in each band is taxed at that band's rate. There is no duty up to R1,210,000. Above that you pay 3 percent, then 6, 8, 11 and finally 13 percent on the highest values. On a R1,500,000 home the duty is 3 percent of the R290,000 above the threshold, which is R8,700. On a R2,500,000 home it is R53,544 plus 8 percent of the amount above R2,329,300. The calculator does the band maths for you.
Do first-time buyers pay transfer duty in South Africa?
There is no special transfer duty discount for first-time buyers. The relief that helps everyone is the R1,210,000 threshold, so if the home costs R1,210,000 or less you pay no transfer duty at all, first-time buyer or not. You do still pay the conveyancing attorney's fee, the Deeds Office fee and, if you take a home loan, the bond registration costs, so there are always some costs to budget for.
What are conveyancing fees, or transfer costs?
Conveyancing fees are what you pay the transferring attorney for the legal work of moving the property into your name and registering it at the Deeds Office. The attorney is usually nominated by the seller. The fee follows the Law Society guideline scale, which rises with the price of the home, and 15 percent VAT is added on top. This calculator uses that guideline, so it gives a close estimate, but attorneys are free to quote a little below it.
What are bond registration costs?
If you buy with a home loan, a second attorney, nominated by your bank, registers the bond over the property. You pay that bond attorney a registration fee, worked out on the size of your loan on the same guideline scale plus VAT, along with a Deeds Office fee for the bond and the bank's once-off bond initiation fee of R6,037.50. A bigger loan means bigger bond costs, and a larger deposit means a smaller loan and lower bond costs. A cash buyer pays no bond costs at all.
Can I add the transfer and bond costs to my home loan?
Usually not, these costs are paid in cash up front, separately from the loan, which is why buyers need to save for them on top of the deposit. Some banks will offer a slightly larger loan to help cover the costs, but this is not guaranteed and it means borrowing more and paying interest on it. The safe plan is to have the deposit and the full cash cost from this calculator ready before you make an offer.
When do I pay these costs?
The attorneys invoice you for the transfer and bond costs early in the process, and everything must be paid before the transfer and bond can be lodged and registered at the Deeds Office. Registration typically happens a couple of months after the offer is accepted, so you have a little time to arrange the money, but you should treat it as due soon after your offer is accepted.
Does a cash buyer pay less to buy a property?
Yes, a cash buyer skips all the bond costs, the bond attorney's fee, the bond Deeds Office fee and the bank initiation fee, which can be tens of thousands of rand. A cash buyer still pays transfer duty, the transferring attorney's conveyancing fee and the transfer Deeds Office fee, because the property still has to be transferred. Switch the calculator to a cash purchase to see the difference.
What if I am buying a new home from a developer?
Switch the buying toggle to a new build from a developer and the calculator drops the transfer duty to zero. When you buy a brand-new home from a VAT-registered developer, the developer charges 15 percent VAT, which is already built into the price and paid over to SARS, so there is no transfer duty on top. You do still register the transfer and, if you take a bond, register the bond, so the conveyancing, Deeds Office and bond costs still apply. In practice many developers offer to cover the transfer costs as a selling incentive, so the tool keeps those costs in but flags that your developer may pay them, always check what your specific deal includes.
Is this an official calculator, and how accurate is it?
It is a free independent tool, not an official SARS or attorney quote. It uses the current SARS transfer duty rates, the Law Society guideline conveyancing and bond fee scale plus VAT, the Deeds Office fee schedule and the standard bank bond initiation fee, so it is a reliable estimate and usually a slight over-estimate, since attorneys can quote below the guideline. The post, petties and FICA lines are typical figures that differ from firm to firm. It handles both a normal resale of an existing home and a new build from a VAT-registered developer, and it assumes an individual buyer. Always get a written cost estimate from your conveyancer before you sign.
This calculator gives estimates using the SARS transfer duty rates from 1 April 2025, the Law Society guideline conveyancing and bond registration fee scale effective 1 August 2025 plus 15 percent VAT, the Deeds Office fee schedule effective 1 April 2026, and the standard R6,037.50 bank bond initiation fee. Post, petties, FICA and search costs vary from firm to firm and are shown as a typical estimate. It covers both a resale of an existing home and a new build from a VAT-registered developer, and assumes an individual buyer. It is general information, not legal or tax advice, so confirm your own costs with your conveyancer and SARS. Last reviewed July 2026.