{"id":838043,"date":"2025-09-25T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=838043"},"modified":"2025-09-25T09:24:51","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T07:24:51","slug":"pay-as-little-tax-as-possible-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/finance\/838043\/pay-as-little-tax-as-possible-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Pay as little tax as possible in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Renowned economist Dawie Roodt advised South Africans to pay as little tax as possible, as long as it does not break the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roodt shared his comments during a question-and-answer session at the recent Biznews Conference in Hermanus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He told delegates that technological changes, which include developments like Bitcoin, have changed the financial landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The impact of foreign exchange controls, for example, is limited as people can move money globally through cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He shared a message of hope, where he is confident that South Africans will fix the problems the country is currently experiencing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, while there is light at the end of the tunnel, Roodt said the current government continues to overspend and hurt the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africans can fight back by paying as little tax as possible. He said the only way to stop local politicians from overspending is to give them less money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI encourage people not to break any laws but to make use of every possible loophole to pay as little tax as possible in South Africa,\u201d he previously explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne rand in your pocket is worth much more than one rand in the pocket of the civil servants,\u201d Roodt previously told delegates at the Tax Indaba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he warned against a tax revolt or stopping to pay taxes altogether, as it would have severe consequences for the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnce people stop paying taxes, including municipal levies, getting them to start paying taxes again \u2013 even under a new government \u2013 is difficult,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also highlighted that South Africans are overtaxed, which means that the government does not have the luxury to increase taxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roodt explained that the country has a highly concentrated tax base, with a small number of companies and individuals paying most corporate and personal income tax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to pay as little tax as possible in South Africa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nicci Courtney-Clark, head of Tax at TaxTim and Bronwen Trower, co-portfolio manager at Investec Wealth & Investments, said there are many ways people can pay less tax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first is a tax-free savings account (TFSA)<\/strong> that allows individuals to save without paying tax on their investments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can deposit up to R36,000 per year, with a lifetime contribution limit of R500,000. If you deposit the maximum every year, it will take about 14 years to reach the lifetime limit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retirement savings are another way<\/strong> to maximise tax-free income. These accounts offer different tax benefits to a tax-free savings account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contributions to retirement accounts up to 27.5% of your annual income (capped at R350,000) can be deducted from your taxable income, giving you a tax break now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, when you eventually withdraw these retirement funds, they will be subject to tax at retirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donating to specific charities in South Africa<\/strong> can be a great way to support causes you care about while also potentially lowering your tax bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To qualify for tax deductions, the organisation you donate to must be a registered Public Benefit Organisation (PBO) with SARS, meaning it operates on a non-profit basis and is tax-exempt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Courtney-Clark explained that working from home<\/strong> can be another way to reduce your tax burden, but it is tricky to navigate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is because claiming a home office deduction in South Africa can be complex due to strict criteria and required documentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To qualify, you must work from home for more than 50% of your time and have a dedicated, separate space in your home solely for work purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is done by getting a letter from your employer which clearly states the percentage that you work from home, which SARS will use as proof.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you contribute to a medical aid scheme, you qualify for a medical aid tax credit<\/strong>, which is a fixed reduction on your tax bill based on the number of dependents in your medical aid plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to this, you may be eligible for an additional medical tax credit if you\u2019ve had out-of-pocket expenses, such as doctor-prescribed medicines or doctor\u2019s bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is worth noting that these out-of-pocket medical credits are only granted if the expenses are significant enough, as SARS applies a complex formula based on your taxable income.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Renowned economist Dawie Roodt advised South Africans to pay as little tax as possible, as long as it does not break the law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":838044,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11121],"tags":[1459,3246,2887],"class_list":["post-838043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","tag-dawie-roodt","tag-sars","tag-tax"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=838043"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838043\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":838081,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838043\/revisions\/838081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/838044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=838043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=838043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=838043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}