Tax on bonuses explained
A bonus is taxed at your highest rate, so the PAYE in your bonus month is much higher than usual, but you don’t pay more tax overall than the tables say.
How PAYE on a bonus is worked out
Your employer works out the tax on your yearly salary with the bonus, takes off the tax on your yearly salary without it, and deducts the difference in the month the bonus is paid. Because the bonus sits on top of your salary, all of it is taxed at your marginal rate, or partly at the next one up.
An example for 2026/27
Thandi earns R 30 000 a month (R 360 000 a year), is 40 and gets a 13th cheque of R 30 000. Tax on R 360 000 is R 56 172 for the year after the primary rebate, about R 4 681 a month. Tax on R 390 000 is R 64 317. The difference, R 8 145, is deducted from the bonus: R 6 006 at 26% on the part up to R 383 100 and R 2 139 at 31% above it. She keeps R 21 855 of the bonus, and her normal PAYE for that month is deducted as usual.
Why it feels like more
The bonus is taxed at about 27% here, while her salary as a whole is taxed at about 16%. That is not extra tax: it is the same yearly tax table, with the bonus landing in her highest bracket. If her employer spreads the bonus tax across the year instead, the total is the same.
UIF on a bonus
UIF is 1% of pay up to R 17 712 a month. If your salary is already above that ceiling, a bonus adds no UIF.
Check your own figures with the take-home pay calculator, entering your yearly pay with and without the bonus.
Tax brackets and rebates for the 2027 year of assessment from SARS rates of tax for individuals and the Budget 2026 Tax Guide; UIF ceiling from SARS: UIF. Example worked out with this site’s tax engine. Checked 18 October 2026. General information, not tax advice.