Transfer Duty Calculator South Africa
This transfer duty and cost calculator shows: on a R1.5 million house, transfer costs come to about R 47 968 (R 8 700 SARS transfer duty, R 37 530 conveyancing fees incl. 15% VAT, and a R 1 738 Deeds Office fee). With a 90% bond, bond registration adds about R 42 868, so budget roughly R 90 836 in cash, or 6.1% of the price.
By Neil B · Checked against published primary sources · Published 2026-08-15 · Last verified 2026-10-17
Use the calculator below for your own price and bond. It uses the SARS transfer duty table, the conveyancing fee guideline and the Deeds Office schedule of fees, and gives a line-item breakdown you can email to yourself.
Updated 17 October 2026. Estimates for planning, not quotes — figures exclude sundries such as postage, FICA and clearance-certificate charges.
What will the upfront costs be?
Drag the purchase price. Toggle the bond switch to add bond registration costs. These are planning estimates — actual quotes vary by firm and province.
Adds bond registration costs and the bank initiation fee.
About 6.1% of the purchase price.
How this estimate works
Transfer duty uses the SARS sliding scale effective 01 Apr 2026. Conveyancing fees follow the Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) recommended tariff effective 01 Jul 2026, plus 15% VAT. Deeds Office fees use the schedule effective 01 Apr 2026. The bank initiation fee is the NCA cap effective 06 May 2016.
- No transfer duty on properties bought for R1 210 000 or less, or on VAT-inclusive sales from registered developers.
- Attorney fees are negotiable. The LSSA tariff is a guideline; firms may quote higher or lower.
- This is an estimate, not a quote. Disbursements, rates clearance, levy clearance and occupational rent are not included.
Sources: SARS transfer duty, LSSA conveyancing fee guideline, Deeds Office fee schedule. Verified 06 Sept 2026.
What are transfer costs on a R1.5 million house?
On a R1.5 million house, the buyer's transfer costs come to about R 47 968: R 8 700 SARS transfer duty, R 37 530 for the conveyancing attorney (incl. 15% VAT) and a R 1 738 Deeds Office transfer fee. With a 90% bond of R 1 350 000, bond registration costs add about R 42 868, for roughly R 90 836 in total. With a 100% bond the total is about R 93 274. These are estimates from the published tariffs; your conveyancer's quote may differ.
| Cost | Paid to | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Transfer duty | SARS (via the conveyancer) | R 8 700 |
| Conveyancing fee (incl. 15% VAT) | Transfer attorney | R 37 530 |
| Deeds Office transfer fee | Deeds Office | R 1 738 |
| Transfer costs (cash or bond buyers) | R 47 968 | |
| Bond attorney fee (incl. 15% VAT) | Bond attorney | R 35 092 |
| Deeds Office bond fee | Deeds Office | R 1 738 |
| Bank initiation fee (incl. VAT) | Lender | R 6 037.50 |
| Bond registration costs | R 42 868 | |
| Total cash needed (≈6.1% of the price) | R 90 836 | |
A cash buyer pays only the transfer costs. Your deposit — here R 150 000 — is part of the price, not a transfer cost, so it comes on top of these figures.
Transfer costs at R1 million, R1.5 million, R2 million and R3 million
Transfer duty is what makes the difference: it is zero up to R 1 210 000 and then climbs steeply, while the attorney and Deeds Office fees rise only gradually. Bond registration costs assume a 90% bond (a 10% deposit).
| Price | Transfer duty | Conveyancing | Deeds Office | Transfer costs | Bond costs (90% bond) | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R 1 000 000 | R 0 | R 30 216 | R 1 546 | R 31 762 | R 35 362 | R 67 124 |
| R 1 500 000 | R 8 700 | R 37 530 | R 1 738 | R 47 968 | R 42 868 | R 90 836 |
| R 2 000 000 | R 33 786 | R 42 406 | R 1 738 | R 77 930 | R 47 744 | R 125 674 |
| R 3 000 000 | R 107 356 | R 54 596 | R 2 408 | R 164 360 | R 60 604 | R 224 964 |
Bond costs are the bond attorney's fee, the Deeds Office bond fee and the bank's initiation fee. For a quick check of both sides together, use the bond and transfer cost calculator.
How much is transfer duty in South Africa in 2026?
Transfer duty is a SARS tax on the purchase price. For properties acquired on or after 01 Apr 2026, no duty is payable up to R 1 210 000; above that it rises in bands from 3% to 13%. At R 1 500 000 the duty is R 8 700; at R 2 000 000 it is R 33 786; and at R 3 000 000 it is R 107 356.
| Property value | Transfer duty |
|---|---|
| R 0 – R 1 210 000 | 0% on the first R1 210 000 |
| R 1 210 001 – R 1 663 800 | 3% of the value above R1 210 000 |
| R 1 663 801 – R 2 329 300 | R13 614 + 6% of the value above R1 663 800 |
| R 2 329 301 – R 2 994 800 | R53 544 + 8% of the value above R2 329 300 |
| R 2 994 801 – R 13 310 000 | R106 784 + 11% of the value above R2 994 800 |
| R 13 310 001 and above | R1 241 456 + 13% of the value exceeding R13 310 000 |
Worked example: R 1 500 000 falls in the 3% band, so the duty is R 0 + 3% × (R 1 500 000 − R 1 210 000) = R 8 700. SARS confirmed no change to the table for 2026/27. The duty is a tax, so no VAT is added to it. More detail, including exemptions, is in our transfer duty guide.
Who pays transfer costs, buyer or seller?
The buyer pays the transfer costs, on top of the purchase price: SARS transfer duty, the conveyancing attorney's fee and Deeds Office fees. SARS states that transfer duty is payable by the person acquiring the property, within six months of the date of acquisition. If you take a home loan, the bond registration costs are also yours. The seller pays the estate agent's commission and the cost of cancelling their own bond.
The seller usually appoints the transfer attorney, but the buyer still pays that attorney's fee. See who pays which transfer costs and, if you are selling, estimate your bond cancellation fees.
Do you pay transfer duty on a new development (VAT)?
No — not if the seller is a VAT vendor selling in the course of its business, as most developers are. That sale attracts VAT, which is already included in the price, and no transfer duty is payable: a sale is subject to either VAT or transfer duty, not both. You still pay the conveyancing and Deeds Office fees — about R 39 268 on a R1.5 million unit — unless the developer has agreed to cover them.
Some developments advertise “no transfer duty” or “transfer costs included”; read the deed of sale to see exactly which fees the developer is paying. On a private resale of a newer home — where the seller is not a VAT vendor — transfer duty applies as normal.
Are bond registration costs separate from transfer costs?
Yes. Transfer costs register the property in your name; bond registration costs register the bank's mortgage bond over it, and only arise if you take a home loan. On a R 1 350 000 bond they are about R 42 868: a R 35 092 bond attorney's fee (incl. VAT), a R 1 738 Deeds Office bond fee and the bank's R 6 037.50 initiation fee, the National Credit Act maximum.
The bank appoints the bond attorney, and the bond attorney's fee follows the same guideline scale as conveyancing, based on the bond amount rather than the price. More in our guides to bond registration vs transfer costs, bond registration costs and the bond initiation fee.
Can transfer costs be added to the bond?
Mostly not. Transfer duty, conveyancing and Deeds Office fees are normally paid in cash to the conveyancer before the transfer is lodged, and a 100% bond leaves no room to add them. The bank's initiation fee is the exception: it is commonly added to the loan. Some lenders will finance transfer costs on top of the price, but only if you qualify for the larger loan — and you then pay interest on the fees for the life of the bond.
Absa says its R 6 037.50 initiation fee can be added to the loan once the bond is registered or paid once-off. Investec's private home loan factsheet says transfer, conveyancing and Deeds Office costs can be financed into the loan. Banks decide case by case. To see what a bigger loan does to your instalment and total cost, try the bond repayment calculator and the home loan total-cost calculator.
What would your transfer costs be?
Two questions, no contact details — we'll estimate the transfer costs for your price band.
Purchase price
How are you buying?
More questions about transfer costs
What are the transfer costs on a R1 million property?
On a R 1 000 000 property there is no transfer duty, so transfer costs are about R 31 762 — conveyancing (incl. VAT) plus the Deeds Office fee. With a 90% bond, add about R 35 362 in bond registration costs, for roughly R 67 124 in total.
When do you pay transfer costs?
Your conveyancer will ask for the transfer costs once the sale is unconditional and before the transfer is lodged at the Deeds Office, because the SARS transfer duty receipt has to be in hand before lodgement. SARS requires the duty within six months of the date of acquisition; after that, interest is charged at 10% a year for each completed month.
What does the transfer fee pay for?
The conveyancing attorney's transfer fee pays for the legal work behind the registration: drafting and checking the transfer documents, obtaining rates and levy clearance certificates, paying the transfer duty to SARS, lodging the transfer at the Deeds Office and following it through to registration. The guideline fee is quoted excluding VAT.
How can you reduce transfer costs?
You cannot legally avoid transfer duty on a normal resale, but price matters: at or below R 1 210 000 the duty is zero, and every rand above a band threshold is taxed at that band's marginal rate. Conveyancing fees follow a recommended guideline rather than a fixed tariff, so you can ask for a written quote. A bigger deposit shrinks the bond and with it the bond attorney's fee.
Related tools and guides
- Working out what you can borrow first? Use the home loan affordability calculator.
- Every upfront cost in one place: transfer and bond costs explained.
- What the conveyancer does for the fee: attorney fees when buying a house.
- How long transfer takes, step by step: the property transfer process.
- Getting ready to approach a bank? Read how bond pre-approval works.
- Building an app or AI agent? Our MCP and REST tools expose the same upfront-cost calculation.
Sources
Figures on this page are as at 17 Oct 2026. Each one comes from the source listed below, or is computed from those sources by the same calculation our calculators use.
- South African Revenue Service (SARS) — Transfer duty ratesDuty table, effective 01 Apr 2026 · 06 Sept 2026
- South African Revenue Service (SARS) — Transfer dutyWho pays, six-month payment period, interest, VAT or duty · 17 Oct 2026
- South African Deeds Office Schedule of Fees of Office (Government Gazette No. 54225)Deeds Office transfer and bond fees, effective 01 Apr 2026 · 15 Aug 2026
- Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) recommended conveyancing fee guidelineConveyancing and bond attorney fees (excl. VAT), effective 01 Jul 2026 · 06 Sept 2026
- National Credit Act, No. 34 of 2005, Reg 42(2) Table B, as substituted by GN 1080 / Government Gazette 39379 (fee tables effective 6 May 2016)Maximum bank initiation fee on a home loan · 15 Oct 2026
- Absa — "The real cost of buying a home" (consumer disclosure); Absa Private Banking 2025 pricingAdding costs to the loan · 15 Oct 2026
- Investec — Private Home Loan factsheet (registered credit provider NCRCP9)Adding costs to the loan · 15 Oct 2026
Estimates for planning only. Conveyancing fees are a recommended guideline that firms may quote above or below; ask your conveyancer for a written pro forma account before you sign.
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