South African PAYE & UIF Calculator for 2024/25 | Find salary & income tax free
Use our powerful online PAYE calculator to find out how much PAYE and UIF tax you must pay to SARS for tax year 2024/25. This calculator also helps determine monthly take-home pay and income tax accurately to elevate your financial potential.
Paye Calculator South Africa
What is PAYE (Pay-As-You-Earn)?
PAYE or Pay-As-You-Earn is a systematic process implemented by the South African Revenue System (SARS) for income tax collection. Employers pay employees net salaries after deducting some tax from their gross wages. This deduction complies with the current earnings threshold. It is a payroll tax that falls under the indirect tax category.
Besides monthly salary, PAYE is also deducted from commissions and bonuses. An employee gets a payslip at the end of each month where every deduction such as pension allowances and PAYE is shown for better understanding.
What is UIF (Unemployment Insurance Fund)?
The South African government introduced the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) to help employees who have stopped working due to various circumstances. Beneficiaries who are unemployed due to illness or on maternity leave are eligible to claim UIF benefits.
An employee must pay 2% of gross salary to qualify for UIF. Your credit score will gradually increase if you pay for a longer time. You can visit the official website of the South African Department of Employment and Labour to check your UIF status online.
How to use PAYE and UIF calculator with a step-by-step guide
- Step 1: Input your monthly or annual gross income.
- Step 2: Select your age group category. There are 3 types of categories in our calculator. These categories are: younger than 65 years, between 65 and 75 years and more than 75 years.
- Step 3: Choose the right category before pressing the “Calculate button”.
Formula to calculate PAYE tax on gross salary
- Step 1: Determine taxable income by subtracting allowances (pension and medical aid) from gross salary.
- Step 2: calculate annual PAYE using the formula: Annual PAYE = (taxable income – lower limit of bracket) * tax rate + base tax
- Step 3: Calculate monthly PAYE by dividing annual PAYE by 12.
For example,
Assume, your income in the 2023/2024 tax year is R300,000 per year
As per the SARS guidelines, if your income falls between R237,101 and R370,000 bracket, the tax rate is 26% and additionally, R42,102 will be added.
Taxable amount = R300000 – R237,100 = R62,900
Tax = R62900 * 26% = R16,354
After adding the base tax, the new tax will be R58,456
So, the monthly PAYE = 58456 / 12 = R4871.33
Formula to calculate UIF benefits
Step 1: First, you need to divide your monthly salary by 30.
Daily Income = Gross salary / 30
Step 2: The benefit percentage ranges from 38% to 60%. Depending on your salary, choose the right percentage.
38% – if your income is higher than R17,712 per month
60% – if you fall into low-income earner group
Step 3: Calculate daily UIF benefits using the following formula,
Daily UIF benefits = Daily income * benefit percentage
Step 4: Now, calculate total UIF benefits by multiplying daily UIF benefits by credit days
Total UIF benefits = Daily UIF benefits * credit days
NB: If you work for 4 days, you will get 1 credit day.
Let us understand through an example,
Assume, you earn a monthly salary of R1200
Your contribution period = 2 years or 24 months
So, Daily income = 12000 / 30 = R400
Lets say benefit percentage = 50%
Daily UIF benefits = 400 * 50% = R200
Total UIF benefits = 200 * 180 = R36000 (Assuming the number of credit days is 180)
Calculate net salary after PAYE and UIF deductions
You must follow a few simple steps to calculate the net salary after deducting PAYE and UIF contributions from the gross salary. These steps are explained below:
- Step 1: Calculate an employee’s total UIF contribution on gross salaryTotal UIF contributions = Gross salary * 2%
- Step 2: Determine the total PAYE tax amount considering the tax amount and various deductions.PAYE = (Gross salary – deduction) * tax rate
- Step 3: In the final step, we will calculate the net salary by subtracting PAYE and UIF from the gross salary.
Net salary = Gross salary – PAYE -UIF contribution
Now, let us understand the above steps using real-time examples
Gross salary = 10,000
UIF contribution = 10000 * 2% = 200
PAYE = 10000 * 15% = 2500 (suppose tax rate = 25%)
So, Net salary = 10000 – 2500 – 200 = 7300
Benefits of using PAYE and UIF calculator
- PAYE calculator ensures accuracy and precision while calculating the net salary. Manual calculation often causes miscalculation which further creates financial issues. Calculating PAYE and UIF throughout the year will help remove miscalculations during the tax filing.
- Employers and employees must comply with the strict SARS regulations to avoid penalties. Our calculator updates automatically every time a new regulation arrives or a new tax rate and bracket is introduced.
- It is important to deduct accurate tax amounts to estimate the exact value of take-home pay. Over-deduction reduces its value. Knowing the right amount of take-home pay is necessary to plan financial budgeting.
- Along with PAYE, it is also necessary for a business to adhere to other tax obligations such as Value-added tax (VAT). If you own a business and improve your finances, you can use our VAT Calculator to stay tax-compliant.
Income tax table for individuals for the 2025 tax year
| Taxable income bracket | Rates of tax |
| 1 – 237100 | 18% of taxable income |
| 237101 – 370500 | 42678 + 26% of 237100 |
| 370501 – 512800 | 77362 + 31% of 370500 |
| 512801 – 673000 | 121475 + 36% of 512800 |
| 673001 – 857900 | 179147 + 39% of 67300 |
| 857901 – 1817000 | 251258 + 41% of 857900 |
| Above 1817001 | 644489 + 45% of 1817000 |
PAYE and UIF contributions over different salary ranges
The PAYE and UIF contributions to the South African economy are massive. The tax system of South Africa is progressive where different tax rates apply to the different income ranges. The PAYE charge is minimal if your income falls into the lower salary group. It will increase if your income exceeds the ceiling. The tax rate ranges from 18% to 45%.
UIF contributions depend on the income threshold. Both employers and employees need to pay 2% of their gross salary to the SARS. This percentage is calculated on the gross wage when your salary is below R17,712 otherwise it applies to the capped amount. The graph below shows how PAYE and UIF contributions change in the various salary ranges.
Wrapping Up
The PAYE calculator provides you with valuable insights into tax deductions. Apart from this, you can easily manage monthly payroll using this calculator. This tool offers transparency while calculating monthly or annual net income after excluding PAYE and UIF contributions.