Estate Duty Calculator

What This Estate Duty Estimate Tells You

The figure shown above is a high-level estimate of how much estate duty SARS could potentially claim from your estate based on the information you entered.

Estate duty is calculated on the total value of your estate at death — including property, investments, policies, cash, and other assets — after allowable deductions. It is currently charged at 20% on the first R30 million and 25% on amounts above that, and it is payable in cash before heirs receive their inheritances.

The Hidden Problem

What often catches families off guard is not poor investment performance, but the fact that growth inside an estate quietly increases the eventual tax bill over time.

When sufficient liquidity is not available, estates are often forced to sell assets under pressure, delay finalisation, or disrupt long-term plans.

A Practical Solution

One of the most effective tools available to South Africans is the annual donations allowance.

By using the R100,000 per person per year exemption and redirecting growth outside your personal estate, future estate duty can be reduced without drastic once-off decisions.

This result is not a prediction.

It is a planning signal.

The size of the problem is shown above — the solution requires structured action over time.

Next Step

If you would like to see how annual donations, when invested correctly, can reduce estate duty and shift long-term growth outside your estate, the next calculator will walk you through that strategy.