Estate duty is 20% of the dutiable amount up to R30 million, and 25% above that. Nothing is payable on the first R3.5 million. But the duty is only part of the bill, and it is never the part that catches people out. The calculator below works out the duty, the executor’s fee, the Master’s fee, and the total cash your estate has to find before a single heir receives anything.
Quick facts
| Item | 2026 figure | Set by |
|---|---|---|
| Estate duty rate | 20% of the dutiable amount up to R30 million | Estate Duty Act |
| Rate above R30 million | 25% | Estate Duty Act |
| Section 4A abatement | R3 500 000 | Estate Duty Act |
| Abatement, second dying spouse | Up to R7 000 000 if the first estate used none of it | Section 4A(2) |
| Executor’s remuneration | Up to 3.5% of gross assets, plus 6% of post death income, plus VAT | Prescribed tariff |
| Master’s Office fee | Nil under R250 000, capped at R7 000 | Prescribed scale |
| Advertising, two notices | About R2 300 plus VAT | Gazette and newspaper |
| Paid by the heirs? | No. The estate pays before anyone inherits | Estate Duty Act |
| Deductible before duty | Debts, funeral costs and administration costs | Section 4 |
Estate Duty Calculator
Work out the estate duty payable, the executor’s fee, the Master’s fee and the total cash your estate must find before anyone inherits anything.
The estate
Vehicles, bank accounts, investments, shares, business interests.
Deemed property. A policy paid straight to a named beneficiary is not included here.
Rent, interest or dividends collected while the estate is being wound up. The executor charges 6% on this.
Deductions
Outstanding bond, loans, credit cards, tax owed to SARS.
Anything a surviving spouse inherits is fully deductible under section 4(q).
Conveyancing, bond cancellation, valuations, tax returns. Leave blank if unknown.
Settings
3.5% is the maximum, not a price. If your will caps it lower, enter that.
A parent, spouse or child of the deceased is exempt, and a will can direct the Master to exempt the executor.
The bond costs about 0.5% of gross assets per year until the estate is finalised.
Choose R7m only if you are the second dying spouse and the first estate used none of its abatement.
Enter your asset values above to see what the estate pays.
Estate duty payable
R0
The bill in full
How the duty is worked out
Cash the estate must find
R0
Duty, fees, funeral and debts are all paid before the heirs receive anything. If the estate does not hold this much in cash, assets are sold to raise it.
Estimate only. Estate duty is levied at 20% of the dutiable amount up to R30 million and 25% above that, after the section 4A abatement of R3.5 million. Executor’s remuneration and Master’s fees are prescribed tariffs. Advertising is an indicative market cost of about R2 300 plus VAT. Confirm with a fiduciary practitioner before relying on any figure.
Why this calculator gives a different answer to the others
Most estate duty calculators do one sum. They take your assets, subtract your debts, subtract R3.5 million, and charge 20% on what is left.
That is not how the Estate Duty Act works, and it overstates your duty.
Section 4 of the Act allows administration costs as a deduction before the abatement is applied. The executor's fee, the Master's fee, the advertising, the bank charges on the estate late account, the conveyancing on a property that transfers to an heir: all of it comes off the estate first. Only what survives that is exposed to duty.
On a R5 500 000 estate with a R900 000 bond, the difference is real:
| Method | Dutiable amount | Estate duty |
|---|---|---|
| Assets, less debts, less abatement | R1 100 000 | R220 000 |
| The Act, with administration costs deducted | R823 980 | R164 796 |
A difference of R55 204, on an estate that is not remotely unusual. The calculator above works the fees out on the prescribed tariffs and feeds them into the deduction, which is why its number is lower and correct.
How estate duty is calculated
The order matters, because each step feeds the next.
- Gross value of the estate. All property, plus deemed property.
- Less debts and liabilities. Section 4(b). The outstanding bond, loans, credit cards, tax owed to SARS.
- Less funeral, tombstone and deathbed expenses. Section 4(a), provided they are reasonable.
- Less administration costs. Sections 4(c) and 4(d). Executor's fee, Master's fee, advertising, valuations, transfer and bond cancellation costs.
- That leaves the net value of the estate.
- Less anything left to a surviving spouse. Section 4(q). This is unlimited.
- Less the abatement. Section 4A. R3 500 000, or up to R7 000 000 for a second dying spouse.
- What remains is the dutiable amount. Duty is 20% of it, and 25% of any part above R30 million.
The abatement, and the R7 million most couples never claim
Every estate gets an abatement of R3 500 000 under section 4A. Below that, after deductions, no duty is payable at all. That single line is why most South African estates pay nothing.
The part people miss is section 4A(2). If the first dying spouse leaves everything to the survivor, the first estate pays no duty because of the section 4(q) deduction, and it therefore uses none of its R3.5 million abatement. That unused abatement rolls over. The second dying estate can claim up to R7 000 000.
It is not automatic in the sense that it is free money. It has to be claimed, and it only exists to the extent the first estate did not use it. But if you are winding up the estate of a widow or widower, check the first estate's liquidation and distribution account before you assume R3.5 million. Set the calculator's abatement toggle to R7 million and see what changes.
Deemed property: the assets that get pulled back in
Some things are not in your estate in any ordinary sense, and are taxed as though they were.
- Life policy proceeds. A domestic policy on your life is deemed property, even where it pays out directly to a nominated beneficiary. There are exclusions, most importantly where the proceeds go to your surviving spouse, in which case section 4(q) removes them again.
- Property you sold but still control, and certain claims under an antenuptial contract.
- Certain donations made in contemplation of death.
The calculator has a separate field for policies paid to the estate, because those attract the executor's fee as well as duty. A policy paid straight to a named beneficiary sidesteps the executor's fee, which is one of the quiet reasons nominations matter.
What is not estate duty
- Approved retirement fund benefits. Pension, provident and retirement annuity fund payouts to your dependants do not attract estate duty. This is a large exclusion and it is why a well-structured retirement fund is one of the cleanest things you can leave behind.
- Anything left to a surviving spouse. Section 4(q), no limit, no duty. The duty is postponed to the second death rather than cancelled, which is exactly why the rolled over abatement then matters.
- Bequests to approved public benefit organisations. Section 4(h).
- The inheritance in the hands of your heirs. They receive it as capital and are taxed on nothing.
Estate duty is not inheritance tax
South Africans search for inheritance tax constantly, and the country does not have one.
An inheritance tax is charged to the person who receives. Estate duty is charged to the estate of the person who died. Your heirs pay nothing on what they inherit. The estate settles the duty out of its own assets, and the heirs get what is left over.
The practical difference is severe. If the estate has no cash, the duty is not waived and it is not deferred onto the heirs. Assets are sold to raise it.
The rest of the cost of winding up an estate
Estate duty gets the attention because it is the tax. On most estates the executor's fee is bigger.
| Cost | Typical amount | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Executor's fee | Up to 3.5% of gross assets, plus VAT | Prescribed tariff |
| Income commission | Up to 6% of income collected after death | Prescribed tariff |
| Master's Office fee | Nil to R7 000 | Prescribed scale |
| Bond of security | About 0.5% of gross assets per year, unless exempt | Master's requirement |
| Advertising, Gazette and newspaper | About R2 300 plus VAT | Market price |
| Estate late bank account | Around R600 to open, plus ongoing charges | Market price |
| Conveyancing, if property transfers | On the guideline scale | Market price |
| Sworn appraiser, if a valuation is required | Sliding scale, plus travel | Market price |
| Estate duty | 20%, or 25% above R30 million | Estate Duty Act |
On a R4 000 000 estate, the Master charges R7 000 and the executor charges R161 000. The state is not the expensive part of dying.
Two of these are negotiable and almost nobody negotiates them. The executor's fee can be capped in your will, and the security bond can be removed by a single clause directing the Master to exempt your executor. Both are covered in full on the executor fees page, and the calculator above lets you enter a capped percentage to see what it saves.
A worked example
Thandiwe dies leaving a home worth R3 500 000 and R2 000 000 in investments and vehicles. There is R900 000 left on the bond. The funeral costs R45 000. She is not survived by a spouse, and her will did not cap the executor's fee.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Gross value of the estate | R5 500 000 |
| Executor's fee, 3.5% plus VAT | R221 375 |
| Master's Office fee | R7 000 |
| Advertising | R2 645 |
| Total administration costs | R231 020 |
| Less bond | R900 000 |
| Less funeral | R45 000 |
| Net value of the estate | R4 323 980 |
| Less abatement | R3 500 000 |
| Dutiable amount | R823 980 |
| Estate duty at 20% | R164 796 |
| Cash the estate must find | R1 340 816 |
Her children inherit a house and a share portfolio. Before they see any of it, the estate has to produce R1 340 816 in cash. If the investments do not cover it, the house is sold.
The liquidity trap
This is the real lesson in the number above, and it is why the calculator ends on cash rather than duty.
Estate duty, the executor's fee, the Master's fee, the funeral and the debts are all settled before distribution. The heirs do not inherit an asset and a bill. They inherit whatever is left after the bill is paid.
An estate that is asset rich and cash poor, which describes most South African estates that own a home, has one way to pay: sell something. Usually the something is the family home, and usually the family did not see it coming.
The fixes are ordinary and they work. Cap the executor's fee in your will. Direct the Master to exempt the executor from security. Hold a life policy payable to the estate, sized to the cash figure above, so the estate has liquidity of its own. Keep the wind up short, because the 6% income commission accrues for as long as the estate stays open.
Frequently asked questions
How much is estate duty in South Africa? It is 20% of the dutiable amount up to R30 million, and 25% on any part above R30 million. The dutiable amount is what is left after debts, funeral costs, administration costs, anything left to a surviving spouse, and the R3.5 million abatement.
What is the estate duty threshold? R3 500 000. This is the section 4A abatement, deducted from the net value of the estate. Estates that fall below it after deductions pay no duty.
Do my heirs pay tax on what they inherit? No. South Africa has no inheritance tax. The estate pays the duty out of its own assets before anything is distributed, and the inheritance is received by the heirs as capital, tax free.
Is estate duty payable on money left to my spouse? No. Section 4(q) allows an unlimited deduction for anything a surviving spouse inherits. The duty is postponed to the second death rather than avoided, which is why the unused abatement can roll over to R7 million.
Are executor's fees deductible for estate duty? Yes. Executor's remuneration, Master's fees, advertising, valuations and conveyancing all fall within the administration costs deductible under sections 4(c) and 4(d). Calculators that ignore this overstate the duty.
Is estate duty payable on my pension or retirement annuity? No. Approved retirement fund benefits payable to your dependants are excluded from estate duty.
Is a life policy subject to estate duty? Usually yes. A domestic policy on your life is deemed property even where it pays directly to a nominated beneficiary. Where the proceeds go to your surviving spouse, section 4(q) removes them from the dutiable amount.
Who pays the estate duty to SARS? The executor. The duty is calculated in the liquidation and distribution account, and is payable within one year of death or thirty days of assessment, whichever is later. Interest runs on late payment.
What happens if the estate has no cash? Assets are sold to raise it. Estate duty and administration costs are not deferred and they are not passed on to the heirs. This is why liquidity planning matters more than duty planning for most estates.
How long does an estate take to wind up? Usually under twelve months where there are no complications, and eighteen to twenty four months where there are. The longer it takes, the more income commission the executor earns.
Methodology
Estate duty rates, the section 4 deductions and the section 4A abatement are set by the Estate Duty Act 45 of 1955 and administered by SARS. The rate structure of 20% on the dutiable amount up to R30 million and 25% above it has applied since 1 March 2018, and the abatement has been R3 500 000 since 2007.
Executor's remuneration is a prescribed tariff under section 51(1) of the Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965: a maximum of 3.5% of the gross value of assets, 6% of income accrued and collected after death, a minimum of R350, plus VAT where the executor is registered.
Master's Office fees are prescribed by Schedule 2 of the Regulations to the same Act, on the scale effective from 1 January 2018: nil below R250 000, R600 from R250 000 to R400 000, and R600 plus R200 for each completed R100 000 above R400 000, capped at R7 000. The cap is reached at a gross estate of R3 600 000.
The calculator applies those tariffs directly. Advertising is carried at R2 300 plus VAT, which is an indicative market cost rather than a prescribed one, and is labelled as such. Conveyancing, valuation and bank charges vary by estate and are left to the user to enter.
Related
- Executor fees in South Africa: the 3.5% tariff, and the two clauses in your will that cut it
- Master's Office fees: the full prescribed scale, nil to R7 000
- What a death costs in South Africa: every cost from the mortuary to the estate
- Funeral cost in South Africa: what the funeral itself runs to
- Lawyer fees in South Africa: what conveyancing and attorney work costs the estate
Disclaimer
Searchis is not a law firm, a tax practitioner, or a fiduciary services provider, and this is not advice. The calculator gives an estimate based on the prescribed tariffs and the rates in force in 2026. Real estate carries valuation questions, deemed property questions, and capital gains tax on death, none of which this tool decides for you.
The rates and tariffs cited here are set by legislation and are amended from time to time. Confirm the current figures and take estate planning decisions with a qualified professional.
