Retirement lump sum tax calculator
Work out the tax on a lump sum from your retirement fund, at retirement or when you leave a job, and what you receive after tax.
Your estimate · 2026/27
| You receive after tax | |
|---|---|
| Tax as a share of the lump sum | |
| Tax-free amount you had left | |
| Table used |
How SARS taxes lump sums
Lump sums from pension, provident and preservation funds and retirement annuities are taxed on their own tables, not at your income tax rate. Both tables are cumulative: SARS adds every taxable lump sum you have received before, works out the tax on the total, and subtracts the tax on the earlier ones. So the tax-free portion applies once in your lifetime, not to each lump sum.
Your fund deducts the tax using a directive from SARS before it pays you. Access to Retirement Funds Under the Two-Pot System shows which events use which table.
| Taxable lump sum | Tax |
|---|---|
| R 1 to R 550 000 | 0% |
| R 550 001 to R 770 000 | 18% of the amount above R 550 000 |
| R 770 001 to R 1 155 000 | R 39 600 + 27% of the amount above R 770 000 |
| R 1 155 001 and above | R 143 550 + 36% of the amount above R 1 155 000 |
| Taxable lump sum | Tax |
|---|---|
| R 1 to R 27 500 | 0% |
| R 27 501 to R 726 000 | 18% of the amount above R 27 500 |
| R 726 001 to R 1 089 000 | R 125 730 + 27% of the amount above R 726 000 |
| R 1 089 001 and above | R 223 740 + 36% of the amount above R 1 089 000 |
What the estimate leaves out
Contributions that were never deducted from your tax, which reduce the taxable part of the lump sum.
The income at retirement from the part you don’t take in cash. If you use it to buy a living annuity, the living annuity drawdown calculator shows how long that income can last.
Savings pot withdrawals before retirement, which are taxed as income. The two-pot withdrawal tax calculator covers those.
The information on this website is general and should not be seen as financial advice or a recommendation. We trust our sources but can’t guarantee absolute accuracy or completeness. Talk to a TRG adviser about your own circumstances.
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