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// THE CATALOGUE

YOU BOUGHT A THING.WHAT HAPPENS?

Type what you actually bought or did. Not a section of the Act, the real thing: a borehole, a kettle for the office, a loan to your brother, a contract your attorney drew up.

Every item, grouped by what the law does with it.

borehole kettle for the office a suit for work school fees solar panels loan to my brother bakkie new roof

What 0 answers actually say

Every item in the catalogue, grouped by what the law does with it. Click any block to read those ones.

0%
are a plain yes. The rest are partly, no, or it depends on your facts.
Deductible 190 Apportioned 50 Wear and tear 28 Capital allowance 28 Base cost only 15 VAT input only 1 Not deductible 95 Depends 155

None of these 562 items has been counter-checked against the Act by a practitioner yet, so every one of them is research and a question to ask, not a claim you may make. Tax law and SARS practice change, so treat anything here as correct at the time of writing only.

What a deduction is actually worth

A deduction reduces your taxable income, so it hands back your marginal rate, not the price. Move the amount and watch how little changes.

R0
18%
R0
26%
R0
31%
R0
36%
R0
39%
R0
41%
R0
45%

One column per 2026 bracket, read from the same verified SARS table the calculators use. Left is the lowest marginal rate, right the highest.

The four shapes a cost can take

Two things can both be "allowed" and be worth completely different amounts this year. This is the difference, over five years.

Deducted now All of it in year one.
Apportioned Only the business share, in year one.
Wear and tear Spread across several years.
Base cost only Nothing now. It lowers the tax when you sell.
Year 1234Year 5

An illustration of the four shapes, not your numbers and not any asset's real write-off period. Those are set per asset and a practitioner works them out from what you actually bought.

Or browse by where the money went

17 categories. Hover or tap a card to see how that category answers.
Legal and professional
49 items
Yes 22
Partly 2
No 14
Depends 11
Open Legal and professional
Staff
47 items
Yes 33
Partly 1
No 4
Depends 9
Open Staff
Property
46 items
Yes 8
Partly 15
No 5
Depends 18
Open Property
Farming
45 items
Yes 13
Partly 24
No 0
Depends 8
Open Farming
Office and premises
42 items
Yes 20
Partly 9
No 1
Depends 12
Open Office and premises
Vehicles and travel
42 items
Yes 6
Partly 19
No 4
Depends 13
Open Vehicles and travel
Lending and finance
41 items
Yes 7
Partly 6
No 19
Depends 9
Open Lending and finance
Trades and professions
40 items
Yes 6
Partly 2
No 3
Depends 29
Open Trades and professions
Home office
36 items
Yes 3
Partly 15
No 8
Depends 10
Open Home office
Technology
33 items
Yes 10
Partly 16
No 1
Depends 6
Open Technology
Marketing
28 items
Yes 23
Partly 1
No 1
Depends 3
Open Marketing
Personal and family
26 items
Yes 3
Partly 0
No 21
Depends 2
Open Personal and family
Energy
22 items
Yes 2
Partly 6
No 6
Depends 8
Open Energy
Administrative and financial infrastructure
19 items
Yes 16
Partly 1
No 1
Depends 1
Open Administrative and financial infrastructure
Digital economy, platforms and crypto
16 items
Yes 10
Partly 2
No 0
Depends 4
Open Digital economy, platforms and crypto
Insurance
16 items
Yes 8
Partly 0
No 5
Depends 3
Open Insurance
Private, informal and neighbour arrangements
14 items
Yes 0
Partly 3
No 2
Depends 9
Open Private, informal and neighbour arrangements

Why so many of these say no

Because that is the truth, and a catalogue that never says no is a brochure. Most spending does not become cheaper because it is deductible: a deduction reduces your taxable income, so you get back your marginal rate, not the price. The money in a tax return is almost never in buying more things. It is in the claims you already qualify for and never made, and in being able to prove them.

Check what your own records support