Rates & sources
SDLT/LTT/LBTT bands vary between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Use the appropriate calculator.
Source: HMRC / Welsh Revenue / Revenue Scotland — figures refreshed at the start of each tax year.
When to use this calculator
- Before buying, renting, refinancing, or reviewing a property investment.
- When you want to compare cash flow, yield, growth, and ownership costs side by side.
- When you need a fast estimate before speaking to an agent, lender, or adviser.
- When you are assessing whether a rental property still makes financial sense after a mortgage rate change.
- When you want to compare the total cost of renting against owning over a five- or ten-year horizon.
A realistic South Africa planning example
Use these sample inputs as a quick scenario test, then change one variable at a time to compare outcomes.
Monthly Rental Income (R)
R400,000
Annual Allowable Expenses — rates, insurance, repairs (R)
5%
Annual Bond Interest (R)
5%
Your Annual Employment Income (R)
R400,000
After entering these figures, review annual rental income, net rental income (after deductions) and additional income tax together rather than in isolation — each metric tells a different part of the story. Then rerun the tool with one input adjusted to see which variable has the biggest effect on all three outputs before you settle on a plan.
How to read your results
Annual Rental Income
Use this metric to compare scenarios side by side and understand how changes in the key inputs drive the final outcome. If the figure surprises you, isolate one variable at a time and rerun the calculation to identify which assumption is responsible.
Net Rental Income (after deductions)
Use this metric to compare scenarios side by side and understand how changes in the key inputs drive the final outcome. If the figure surprises you, isolate one variable at a time and rerun the calculation to identify which assumption is responsible.
Additional Income Tax
Review this figure alongside your gross income so you can understand the true cost of deductions and plan around any thresholds before the tax year closes. If the figure looks higher than expected, check whether any pension or gift-aid contributions could reduce your taxable income.
Net After Tax
Review this figure alongside your gross income so you can understand the true cost of deductions and plan around any thresholds before the tax year closes. If the figure looks higher than expected, check whether any pension or gift-aid contributions could reduce your taxable income.
Effective Rental Tax Rate
Review this figure alongside your gross income so you can understand the true cost of deductions and plan around any thresholds before the tax year closes. If the figure looks higher than expected, check whether any pension or gift-aid contributions could reduce your taxable income.
Total Deductions
This is the headline outcome of the calculation, but it is most useful when read alongside the supporting metrics below it rather than in isolation. Try changing one input at a time and watching how this total moves to understand which driver has the biggest impact.
Method & assumptionsAuthoritative sources
South African landlords pay income tax on net rental profit at their marginal rate rather than at a flat rate. SARS includes your net rental income — gross rent minus allowable deductions — in your total taxable income for the year. The most significant deductions available are the interest on your home loan (not the capital repayments), municipal rates and taxes, sectional title levies, building insurance premiums, and the direct cost of repairs and maintenance. Because rental income stacks on top of employment income, it is taxed at the top of your income tax bracket, making the marginal tax rate the relevant figure. For a taxpayer already earning R500,000 per year, additional rental profit above that figure is taxed at 36% or higher under the 2024/25 tables.
This calculator adds your net rental income to your stated employment income and computes the incremental tax created by the rental activity, using the 2024/25 SARS income tax tables and the appropriate rebate for your age. The result shows both the additional tax payable and the net income you retain after SARS’s share. The effective rental tax rate — shown as a percentage of gross rent — gives a useful sense of how much of each rand of rent you actually keep. Note that this calculator does not model capital gains tax on eventual sale, depreciation of assets within the rental property, or VAT registration requirements for short-term letting activity. A registered tax practitioner can help structure a rental portfolio tax-efficiently.
Common mistakes
- !Comparing rent and ownership costs without including taxes, fees, and maintenance.
- !Using purchase price alone without testing the impact of financing or vacancy assumptions.
- !Relying on yield or growth in isolation instead of reviewing the full property case.
- !Forgetting Stamp Duty Land Tax (or its Scottish and Welsh equivalents), which can add thousands to the true cost of purchase.
- !Using optimistic rental growth figures without also testing a flat or declining rent scenario to check downside resilience.
What to do next
- Run a second scenario with a higher rate or lower rental yield to check downside resilience.
- Compare the result with a buy-versus-rent or stamp duty calculator before making an offer.
- Use the related guides below to understand agent fees, legal costs, and ongoing maintenance budgets.
- If you are assessing a buy-to-let, check the gross yield against the net yield after mortgage interest, voids, and management fees.
- Note down the key figures from this scenario to share with your solicitor or mortgage broker so they are working from the same assumptions.
Frequently asked
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