A shared borehole, water tank or solar system split between two or more households or businesses
Apportioned
Where several parties draw off one physical source, the fair claim is by metered or estimated share of use, documented once in a simple usage-split agreement rather than re-argued every year.
Claim the business share only · Anyone
This is the direct parallel to splitting one fuel tank between a generator and a car, which the catalogue already covers for diesel. See also the sub-metering equipment item, which is the physical fix for this exact problem.
Where people go wrong
Without a documented split, either everyone under-claims out of caution or everyone over-claims the same litre of water, and both failure modes are visible the moment two connected returns are compared.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Worth the one-time cost of a sub-meter or a written formula: it turns an unclaimable grey area into a defensible apportioned deduction for every party sharing the source.
Authority s11(a)
governed by Apportionment for part of a property or part of a year
may unlock General deduction for expenditure in producing income
Private, informal and neighbour arrangements
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
AI tool subscription
Apportioned
An AI subscription used in your trade is deductible like any other software, apportioned if you also use it personally.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
There is no special AI rule. It is a software service, deductible in full in the year on the business use portion. Most of these bill in dollars on a personal card, so keep the statement line and claim the rand amount debited. Usage-based API credits are deductible as consumed on the same basis.
Where people go wrong
A single personal account used for both business work and personal curiosity, claimed at 100 percent. It is the same apportionment problem as the phone, on a smaller bill. Also, do not double-claim by putting the same subscription through both a business and a personal return.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Deductible, cheap, and it can genuinely displace outsourced work. As always the saving is your marginal rate, so subscribe because it does work for you, not for the deduction.
Authority s11(a)
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
Technology
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Airtime and prepaid data
Apportioned
Airtime and data used for the business are deductible, but prepaid is the hardest version of this claim to prove.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
Consumed in the production of income, airtime and data are ordinary running costs deductible in the year. The difficulty is that prepaid vouchers carry no itemised record of what the airtime was used for, so you are relying on a reasonable and consistently applied percentage. A dedicated business SIM or a business data account makes the claim far stronger than a stack of prepaid slips.
Where people go wrong
Claiming the whole household data account because you work from home. The family's streaming is not a business cost. Where the same line serves both, apportion.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Small but real and it recurs monthly, so it adds up over a year. Get a separate business line if the amounts are meaningful; the record keeping alone is worth it.
Authority s11(a)
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
governed by Record retention obligation
Technology
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Bank charges on a mixed-use personal account, business share only
Apportioned
Only the business share of the fees is claimable, and it needs the same apportionment evidence as the cellphone and the fibre line already in the catalogue.
Claim the business share only · Anyone
A separate business account is the cheaper answer at almost any scale, since it removes the apportionment argument entirely.
Where people go wrong
Claiming the full monthly fee on an account that is mostly personal is the over-claim risk.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Worth switching to a dedicated account rather than fighting the apportionment every year.
Authority s11(a)
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
Administrative and financial infrastructure
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Car service at the dealer or a workshop
Apportioned
A routine service is a deductible running cost for the business portion of the vehicle's use.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
Servicing maintains the vehicle in its existing condition, so it is deductible rather than capitalised. Apportion by business kilometres from the logbook. If the vehicle is on a maintenance plan you are usually paying nothing at the service, so there is nothing to claim.
Where people go wrong
Claiming the full invoice on a vehicle that is also the family car. Only the business share is claimable, and the share must come from the logbook, not from a guess like 'about half'.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Correctly claimed it is a genuine reduction in taxable income at your marginal rate. It is maintenance you would do anyway.
Authority s11(a)
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
governed by Repairs to business property
Vehicles and travel
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Car wash and valet for a work vehicle
Apportioned
Yes, it is a running cost, but only the business share and it is a small number.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
Keeping a vehicle used in the trade presentable is an ordinary running cost, deductible in the same business proportion as fuel and servicing. A branded vehicle used to visit clients has an easy business argument. A travel allowance holder using the deemed cost table cannot add it on top.
Where people go wrong
There is not much of a trap here beyond apportionment, but people over claim small cash items with no slip. No slip, no proof, and a pile of unsupported small claims is what makes SARS look harder at the big ones.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Marginal. Claim it if it is on the card statement, do not build a filing system around it.
Authority s11(a)
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
Vehicles and travel
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Cloud storage subscription
Apportioned
A cloud storage subscription used for business is fully deductible in the year, apportioned if the same plan holds your personal files.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
Subscription fees are revenue expenditure with no asset to write off, so they come off in full in the year incurred. Many of these are billed in dollars, so convert at an appropriate rate and keep the card statement showing the rand amount actually charged. A family plan shared with a household is not a full business cost.
Where people go wrong
Foreign currency subscriptions get claimed at a made-up rate. Claim what your bank actually debited in rands; that is your incurred expenditure and it is on the statement.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Yes, a small, clean, recurring deduction. Use a business-only plan if you can, so there is no apportionment discussion at all.
Authority s11(a)
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
Technology
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Conference, seminar or industry event
Apportioned
Deductible where the conference relates to the trade you already carry on, with any private portion of the trip stripped out.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
The delegate fee, flights, accommodation and reasonable meals connected to a genuine business conference deduct. If you extend the trip for a holiday, or take a spouse who has no role in the business, that portion is private and comes out. Keep the programme or agenda, not just the invoice, because the agenda is what proves the business connection. VAT input tax on entertainment elements is generally denied even where the income tax deduction stands.
Where people go wrong
The destination conference. Three days of sessions attached to ten days at the coast, claimed in full. Apportion honestly by days, and never claim a spouse's ticket or flight unless the spouse genuinely works in the business and attended for that reason.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Legitimate and deductible where the business link is real, and it saves your marginal rate. It is not a way to write off a holiday, and SARS looks at conference travel precisely because people try.
Authority s11(a)
excluded by Entertainment input tax is denied
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
governed by Business travel, flights and accommodation
Staff
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Credit card fees and interest where the card is used for the business
Apportioned
Card fees and interest are deductible only to the extent the card was used to fund business spending, and you need the statements to prove the split.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
Interest follows the use of the money. If a card carries a mixed balance of business stock and family groceries, only the portion attributable to the business borrowing is deductible, and you have to be able to show how you arrived at the split. A dedicated business card makes the whole balance traceable and removes the argument. Personal credit card interest on its own is never deductible.
Where people go wrong
Claiming the full card interest because most of the spending was for the business. Most is not a calculation. Without a defensible apportionment based on the actual statement lines, the entire claim is at risk, not just the personal part.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Credit card interest is one of the most expensive forms of borrowing available. Getting a deduction for part of it recovers only your marginal rate, so this is a reason to clear the card, not to keep the balance.
Authority s11(a)
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
governed by Interest incurred on business borrowing
Lending and finance
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Cyber security and antivirus software
Apportioned
Security software for business systems is deductible in full in the year, apportioned if the licence also covers family devices.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
Annual or monthly security subscriptions are revenue expenditure deductible when incurred. Hardware firewalls are assets subject to wear and tear. A multi-device family licence covering the household is not a full business cost, so claim the business device share or buy a business licence.
Where people go wrong
Buying a five device family antivirus licence and claiming all of it because one of the devices is the work laptop.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Deductible and cheap relative to a breach. See the data breach item for why the downside is not symmetrical.
Authority s11(a)
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
Technology
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Debit order processing or collection fee, charged separately from the debit order itself
Apportioned
A debit order fee is a banking cost that follows the debit order it belongs to, business or personal, same principle as an ATM fee following the withdrawal. PLEASE CONFIRM WITH YOUR TAX PRACTITIONER: this item is matched to an existing rule by general principle, not a SARS ruling written for this exact situation, so check it applies before relying on it.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
Where the underlying debit order is a business expense (e.g. a business insurance premium or a software subscription), the fee that collects it is deductible alongside it. Where the debit order is personal, the fee is not.
Where people go wrong
A blanket bank-charges claim that lumps every fee line together will pull personal debit order fees into a business claim if the account is mixed use.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Small individually, worth tracking as part of the same reconciliation that already has to identify each debit order's purpose.
Authority s11(a)
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
Lending and finance
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Dedicated home office room used by a salaried employee
Apportioned
A salaried employee can only claim a home office if a whole room is set aside, kitted out for work and used regularly and exclusively for work, and that is where you mainly do your job.
Claim the business share only · Salaried employee
The premises test in s23(b) requires the part of the home to be occupied for trade, specifically equipped for it, and used regularly and exclusively for it. On top of that an employee must perform their duties mainly in that space, which SARS reads as more than half the working time. If you pass, you claim the floor-area share of rent or bond interest, rates, electricity and repairs, usually declared under the home office code on the ITR12. If you fail any leg, you claim nothing, not a smaller amount.
Where people go wrong
People assume a few days a week at home is enough. It is not. The employee test is a hard 'mainly' test on where duties are performed, and hybrid workers who are in the office two or three days a week generally fail it outright. Second trap: SARS almost always verifies this claim and wants photos, a floor plan, measurements and a letter from the employer.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Where you genuinely qualify it is real money, because it is a share of costs you were already paying anyway. But it only reduces taxable income, so you get back your marginal rate, not the cost. Do not convert a room purely to chase the deduction, and read the capital gains item before you do.
Authority s23(b) read with s23(m)
excluded by Salaried employees cannot deduct ordinary work costs
governed by Home office expenditure
may unlock Home partly used for trade reduces the exclusion
Home office
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Dedicated home office room used by a sole proprietor or freelancer
Apportioned
A self employed person with a proper dedicated office room can claim the floor-area share of the home running costs, and the rules are noticeably kinder than for a salaried employee.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
You still have to pass s23(b): the room must be occupied for trade, specifically equipped for it, and used regularly and exclusively for it. What you do not face is the extra employee hurdle of performing your duties mainly there, and you are not boxed in by s23(m), so genuinely business items like stationery, printing and business phone costs are deductible under the general deduction as well. Apportion the premises costs by floor area of the office over floor area of the home.
Where people go wrong
Exclusivity still kills most claims. A room that doubles as the guest bedroom, the kids' playroom or the place the treadmill lives is not exclusive, and one honest sentence in a SARS verification ends the claim. Keep the room single purpose and keep a dated floor plan and photos.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Yes, this is one of the better real world claims for a home based business, because the underlying costs exist whether you claim or not. It still only returns your marginal rate, and it can reduce your primary residence CGT exclusion later.
Authority s11(a) read with s23(b)
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
governed by Home office for a sole proprietor
may unlock Home partly used for trade reduces the exclusion
Home office
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Desktop computer or workstation
Apportioned
Same as a laptop: written off over the accepted period for computer equipment, and only for the business share.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
A desktop or workstation used in the trade is written off under wear and tear. Components bought and assembled into one machine are one asset, not several small ones. Peripherals bought at the same time can often be treated as part of the same asset. If the machine doubles as the household computer, apportion.
Where people go wrong
Splitting a high-end build into components on separate invoices to get each piece under the small item threshold and write the lot off in year one. SARS looks at the functioning asset, not the invoice count.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Worth claiming. Not worth upgrading for. A machine you did not need still costs you the price minus your marginal rate.
Authority s11(e)
governed by Wear and tear on business assets
Technology
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
E-tolls and toll gate fees
Apportioned
Tolls paid on business trips are deductible, tolls on the school run and the holiday are not.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
Toll fees are an ordinary travel cost and follow the business use of the trip. Because a toll statement shows the date and gantry, it is unusually good evidence, it ties to specific journeys rather than to a vague percentage. A salaried person with a travel allowance who uses the deemed cost table cannot claim tolls on top, the deemed rate is the whole claim.
Where people go wrong
Claiming the whole annual toll account. Match the gantries and dates to the logbook trips, because an account statement showing weekend travel undermines the rest of the claim.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Small in isolation, but for a rep who lives on the highway it adds up, and the statement is already itemised for you.
Authority s11(a)
excluded by Deemed cost table versus actual vehicle costs
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
Vehicles and travel
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Electricity used by the home office
Apportioned
The floor-area share of your electricity is claimable if the home office qualifies, and nothing is claimable if it does not.
Claim the business share only · Anyone
Floor area is the accepted default apportionment. If your office genuinely draws far more power than the rest of the house you can argue a different basis, but you need actual measurement to support it rather than an assertion. Prepaid electricity is claimable on the same basis provided you can prove what you bought, so keep the prepaid receipts or the app history.
Where people go wrong
Trying to claim a generator, inverter or solar installation as if it were electricity. Those are capital assets with their own rules, and the interaction between solar, s23(b) and s23(m) is a known trap that catches employees in particular.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Real but small in most homes. It comes along with a qualifying claim rather than justifying one.
Authority s23(b)
governed by Home office for a sole proprietor
governed by Home office expenditure
may unlock Solar and a home office: the s23(b)/s23(m) trap
Home office
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Farm bakkie running costs
Apportioned
Running a bakkie on the farm is deductible for the farming use, and you have to be able to show the split between farm and private kilometres.
Claim the business share only · Farmer
Fuel, servicing, tyres, insurance and licence are deductible to the extent the vehicle is used in the farming operation. The vehicle itself is written off, though the write off basis for a passenger vehicle is not the same as for a tractor. On a farm the private portion is rarely zero, because the same bakkie fetches the children and goes to town.
Where people go wrong
Claiming one hundred percent because the bakkie never leaves the farm. Keep a simple logbook or at least a defensible basis. VAT is a separate trap: input tax on a double cab used as a passenger vehicle can be denied even where the income tax deduction is fine.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Real cost of farming, claim it properly. Do not buy a bigger bakkie because it is deductible.
Authority s11(a) read with s23(g)
excluded by Motor car input tax is denied
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
Farming
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Fibre or ADSL at home
Apportioned
Home internet is claimable only on the business use share, and for a home office claim it rides on the same rules that govern the office itself.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
For a sole proprietor, the internet line is a home office running cost. Some practitioners apportion it on floor area with the other home office costs; others apportion on actual usage where that can be shown. Either way you need a basis you can explain. For a salaried employee, s23(m) and R-EMP-008 block most of it, and even for a qualifying employee home office the claim is narrow.
Where people go wrong
Claiming 100 percent of the family fibre line because you work from home. Everybody in the house uses it. This is a classic over-claim and it is easy for SARS to challenge because the account is in a domestic name at a domestic address.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Worth claiming the honest portion, particularly if you already qualify for a home office claim so the apportionment work is done anyway. Not a reason to upgrade your package.
Authority s11(a)
excluded by Salaried employees cannot deduct ordinary work costs
governed by Home office for a sole proprietor
may unlock Home office expenditure
Technology
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Fuel, petrol and diesel
Apportioned
Fuel is deductible for the business kilometres you actually drove, which means it lives or dies on your logbook.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
A sole proprietor claims fuel for the business use portion of a vehicle used in the trade. A salaried person with a travel allowance does not claim fuel as an expense at all, they either use the deemed cost per kilometre from the SARS cost table or actual costs, and either way business kilometres come from the logbook. Fuel is zero rated for VAT, so a vendor has no input tax to claim on petrol or diesel no matter how many slips are kept.
Where people go wrong
Keeping a shoebox of petrol slips and expecting that to be the claim. Slips prove spend, not business use. Without a logbook the slips are worth nothing. Vendors also waste time trying to claim VAT on fuel, which is zero rated.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Fuel is usually the biggest single running cost, so a proper logbook turns a real expense into a real deduction. That is the whole game, and it costs you nothing but the habit.
Authority s11(a)
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
governed by Deemed cost table versus actual vehicle costs
Vehicles and travel
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
International transaction or currency conversion fee on a card purchase
Apportioned
Follows the character of the purchase it was charged on: a business software subscription billed in USD carries a deductible conversion fee, a personal overseas purchase does not. PLEASE CONFIRM WITH YOUR TAX PRACTITIONER: this item is matched to an existing rule by general principle, not a SARS ruling written for this exact situation, so check it applies before relying on it.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
Every bank's pricing guide lists this fee (R1 to R2-ish per transaction, sometimes a percentage), but none of them says anything about its tax character, because that is never a banking question. It is decided by what was bought.
Where people go wrong
Increasingly common because so many SaaS tools and international subscriptions bill in USD. A business that pays for five or six international tools a month accumulates real deductible fees that are easy to miss because each line is small.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Genuinely worth tracking for a business with several international subscriptions; trivial for an individual with one overseas purchase a year.
Authority s11(a)
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
Lending and finance
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Laptop bought by a freelancer or sole proprietor
Apportioned
You write a business laptop off over its useful life, and you claim only the business use share of it, not the whole thing.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
A laptop used in a trade is written off under wear and tear over the period SARS accepts for computer equipment, which for laptops is short. If the machine is also your personal computer, only the business portion of each year's allowance is claimable. Low value assets below the small item threshold can be written off in full in the year, and some laptops fall under it: check the current threshold rather than assuming. Keep the invoice, it is the first thing requested on verification.
Where people go wrong
This is the single biggest over-claim in the technology list alongside the phone. Almost nobody uses their laptop 100 percent for business, yet almost everybody claims 100 percent. Pick a defensible percentage, write down how you arrived at it, and use the same basis every year. Switching from 60 percent to 100 percent between years is a flag.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Legitimately claimable and worth doing, but it is a write-off of an amount you already spent, returned at your marginal rate over a few years. It does not make a laptop cheap.
Authority s11(e)
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
governed by Wear and tear on business assets
Technology
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Laptop bought by an employee and used partly for work
Apportioned
You claim wear and tear on the business use portion only, so a laptop used half for work gives you half the annual allowance.
Claim the business share only · Salaried employee
The allowance under s11(e) is available to employees despite s23(m), spread over the computer write-off period in the SARS table. You must reduce it by the private use portion, and you need a defensible basis for the split rather than a round number pulled from nowhere. If the employer supplied the laptop there is nothing to claim, because you incurred nothing.
Where people go wrong
Claiming a full write-off in year one on a laptop well above the small item threshold, and claiming 100 percent business use on a device the whole family uses. Both are easy for SARS to challenge and both attract understatement penalties.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Genuinely useful for a hybrid employee because it survives even when the home office room claim fails. Still only worth your marginal rate on the apportioned allowance.
Authority s11(e)
governed by Wear and tear on business assets
governed by Wear and tear on own equipment used for work
Home office
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Licence disc renewal and roadworthy certificate
Apportioned
Licence and roadworthy fees on a vehicle used in the trade are deductible for the business portion.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
These are compulsory running costs of holding and operating the vehicle, so they follow the same business use apportionment as fuel and maintenance. A roadworthy obtained in order to sell the vehicle is a cost of disposal rather than a running cost. Penalties for renewing the disc late are a different thing and are not deductible.
Where people go wrong
The late renewal penalty is a fine and is not deductible even though the licence fee itself is. Split the invoice.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Small but free, you are paying it regardless. Just do not roll the penalty in with it.
Authority s11(a)
excluded by Fines, penalties and unlawful payments are not deductible
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
Vehicles and travel
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Major repair such as a gearbox, clutch or engine
Apportioned
A big repair is still a repair and still deductible for the business share, as long as it restores the vehicle rather than upgrading it.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
Size does not turn a repair into a capital improvement. Replacing a failed gearbox or clutch with an equivalent part restores the vehicle to its former condition and is deductible. Fitting something that makes the vehicle materially better or different, for example converting it or adding a permanent upgrade it never had, leans towards capital and gets added to cost instead. If insurance paid out, you can only claim what you actually bore.
Where people go wrong
Two traps. Claiming a repair that was reimbursed by insurance, and claiming an upgrade as a repair. Also, a rebuild done right before selling the vehicle still gets apportioned for private use, it is not suddenly all business.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
A big unexpected bill is exactly where the deduction matters most, so make sure the invoice is in the business name and the logbook supports the split.
Authority s11(d)
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
governed by Repairs to business property
Vehicles and travel
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Mobile phone handset
Apportioned
A phone is deductible only for the business use portion, and this is where most people over claim by a mile.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
The handset is an asset written off under wear and tear, or in full if it falls under the small item threshold, and only the business use share is claimable. The share has to be based on something real: a month or two of itemised billing, or a call and data log, gives you a percentage you can defend and reuse. There is no deemed business percentage for phones that you can simply assert.
Where people go wrong
Claiming 100 percent of a phone that is also your personal phone, your WhatsApp, your banking app and your camera. If you have one phone, you have private use, full stop. If you genuinely want a full claim, carry a second phone that is only ever used for business and can be shown to be.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Claim the honest portion. Do not upgrade your phone for the deduction: at a typical business share you recover a fraction of a fraction, and the personal use element makes it one of the most audited lines on a small business return.
Authority s11(e)
excluded by Salaried employees cannot deduct ordinary work costs
governed by Wear and tear on business assets
Technology
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Money drawn from an access bond and used for the business
Apportioned
Interest on the amount you withdraw is deductible if the money went into the business, so you must track that portion of the bond separately.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
Interest follows the use of the funds, not the security. Money drawn from the access facility and paid into the business creates deductible interest on that slice of the bond, even though the bond sits over your home. You need a schedule showing the drawdown date, the amount and where it went, and a calculation of the interest attributable to that portion each year. As you repay, the deductible portion should reduce.
Where people go wrong
Treating the whole bond as business once any drawdown is used for business, or losing the trace because the withdrawal went into a household account first. Keep the drawdown on its own path from the bond into the business account on the same day.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
An access bond is usually the cheapest borrowing a small business owner has, and making the interest deductible improves that further. The risk is that it puts your home behind the business debt, which is a real cost the tax saving does not compensate for.
Authority s11(a)
governed by Interest incurred on business borrowing
may unlock Home office for a sole proprietor
Lending and finance
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Monthly cellphone contract
Apportioned
The monthly subscription is deductible in the same business use proportion as the phone itself, and the handset baked into the contract is treated separately from the airtime.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
A contract bill usually bundles a device instalment with a service and data component. The service portion is a running cost deductible on the business use share; the device portion is really the financing of an asset. In practice most people claim the business percentage of the total bill, which is acceptable if the percentage is honest and consistently applied, but be ready to explain the split.
Where people go wrong
Putting a contract in the business name and claiming 100 percent while using the phone as your personal phone. Whose name is on the account does not determine deductibility; actual use does.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
A real and ongoing deduction, worth setting up correctly once so it runs every year. The saving is your marginal rate on the business share of the bill, not the bill.
Authority s11(a)
excluded by Salaried employees cannot deduct ordinary work costs
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
Technology
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Monthly vehicle tracking subscription
Apportioned
The monthly tracking fee is a deductible running cost for the business portion of the vehicle's use.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
Unlike the hardware, the subscription is a recurring service and is deducted in the year incurred. Apportion for private use. Where the tracking system also produces your trip records, keep those exports, they are among the strongest logbook evidence you can have.
Where people go wrong
People pay for a tracker that logs every trip and then still do not produce a logbook at verification. The data is sitting in the app. Export it.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
The subscription itself is a modest deduction, but its real tax value is the trip data, which can be the difference between a travel claim being allowed and being disallowed entirely.
Authority s11(a)
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
may unlock Travel allowance deduction against business kilometres
Vehicles and travel
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Municipal rates and taxes apportioned to the home office
Apportioned
Rates and taxes are a premises cost, so the floor-area share is claimable once the home office passes the exclusivity test.
Claim the business share only · Anyone
Take the rates on the municipal account, exclude the refuse, sewerage and consumption lines if you are treating those separately, and apply the office floor area percentage. This is available to a salaried employee who qualifies as well as to a sole proprietor, because it is expenditure in respect of the premises contemplated in s23(b).
Where people go wrong
Claiming the whole municipal account under rates. A municipal bill usually mixes rates, refuse, sewerage, water and sometimes electricity, and each has to be handled on its own footing.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
A small but legitimate add-on to a claim you are already making. Not a reason on its own to set up a home office.
Authority s23(b)
governed by Home office for a sole proprietor
governed by Home office expenditure
Home office
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
NAS or external hard drive for backups
Apportioned
Backup storage used for business records is claimable, and if it holds your tax records it also helps you meet a legal retention obligation.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
The device is plant written off under wear and tear, or in full if below the small item threshold. Where the same NAS holds family photos as well as business data, apportion honestly. Note the wider point: the Tax Administration Act requires you to keep records for a set period, and a backup device is a practical way to comply.
Where people go wrong
Buying a large NAS mainly for a media library and claiming it as a business backup device. The tax treatment follows actual use.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Cheap, deductible, and losing your records to a dead drive costs far more than the device. One of the few purchases worth making for reasons that include tax.
Authority s11(e)
governed by Wear and tear on business assets
may unlock Record retention obligation
Technology
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
New tyres for a work vehicle
Apportioned
Tyres are a running cost, deductible for the business portion of the vehicle's use.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
Replacing worn tyres restores the vehicle to working condition, so it is a repair and running cost rather than an improvement. Claim the business share. If you have a travel allowance and use the deemed cost table, maintenance is already built into that rate and you cannot claim tyres on top.
Where people go wrong
A travel allowance holder claiming tyres separately in addition to the deemed cost rate. You choose one method, actual costs or deemed, not a mix of the two.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Tyres are unavoidable safety spend. Claiming the business share is correct, but nobody is better off buying tyres for the deduction.
Authority s11(a)
excluded by Deemed cost table versus actual vehicle costs
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
Vehicles and travel
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
One phone or laptop used for both work and personal life
Apportioned
You may only claim the business portion, you must be able to explain how you worked it out, and 100 percent is almost never the right answer for a device you also live on.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
There is no deemed or safe harbour percentage for devices. The accepted approach is to work out a defensible business use share from real evidence, for example itemised billing over a representative period, a call and data log, or a screen time record, and then apply the same basis consistently year to year. Record the calculation at the time and keep it with your records. If the split changes materially, document why. A salaried employee is blocked from most of this in any case by s23(m).
Where people go wrong
The two failure modes are round numbers with no working behind them, and 100 percent on a device that is obviously also personal. If SARS asks how you got to your percentage and the answer is that it felt about right, the claim is gone, and once one line is disallowed the rest of the return gets read carefully too.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Claiming the honest share is worth it and is entirely legitimate. Inflating it is not: you are risking a disallowance, an understatement penalty and interest to gain your marginal rate on the difference. If a full claim really matters, run a separate business-only device.
Authority s23(g)
excluded by Salaried employees cannot deduct ordinary work costs
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
governed by Wear and tear on business assets
Technology
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Parking fees while working
Apportioned
Parking paid while doing business is deductible, parking at your own regular workplace generally is not.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
Parking at a client, at a site, or at the airport for a business trip is a business cost. A monthly bay at the office you commute to daily is part of getting to work, which is private. For a salaried employee, ordinary parking costs are not deductible at all, an employee cannot deduct routine work expenses unless they fall into a specific allowed category such as a travel allowance claim.
Where people go wrong
A salaried employee assuming parking is claimable because it is work related. It is not. And do not confuse a parking fee with a parking fine, they are treated in opposite ways.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Only worth tracking if you park at clients often. For most people it is noise.
Authority s11(a)
excluded by Salaried employees cannot deduct ordinary work costs
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
Vehicles and travel
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Personal loan taken out and used in the business
Apportioned
The label on the loan does not matter, the use of the money does, so interest on a personal loan applied to the business can be deducted.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
The test for deducting interest is whether the borrowed funds were applied for the purposes of trade. A personal loan whose proceeds went straight into stock, equipment or wages produces deductible interest. What you need is a clean money trail: the loan proceeds landing in an account and going out to identifiable business payments. If only part of the loan went to the business, only that proportion of the interest is deductible.
Where people go wrong
Borrowing into a personal account where the money mixes with salary and household spending, then trying to reconstruct the business use afterwards. Once the money is mixed, the trace is very hard to prove and the deduction usually fails.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
The deduction is real, but personal loan rates are usually far above business finance rates. Do not choose a more expensive loan because part of the interest is deductible.
Authority s11(a)
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
governed by Interest incurred on business borrowing
Lending and finance
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Petrol or diesel to run a generator
Apportioned
Fuel burnt to keep the business running is fully deductible, fuel burnt at your house is not, and if you buy it in one tank you have to split it.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
Generator fuel used in the production of income is an ordinary operating expense deductible in the year incurred. The problem is proof: fuel is usually bought at a filling station on the same card as your car fuel, so you need to be able to show what went into the generator. A simple generator log recording run hours and litres is what turns this from a guess into a claim.
Where people go wrong
Putting the whole month's fuel slips through the business because some of it went into the generator. Vehicle fuel and generator fuel have completely different rules and mixing them is a fast route to a disallowance on the whole lot.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Yes, claim it, it is a genuine cost of trading through load shedding. Just keep a log so the claim survives a verification.
Authority s11(a)
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
Energy
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Prepaid electricity bought for a home office
Apportioned
Only the share of your household electricity that relates to a qualifying home office is claimable, worked out on floor area, and a salaried employee usually cannot claim it at all.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
A sole proprietor with a home office that meets the exclusive and regular use test can apportion household running costs, including electricity, on the ratio of the office floor area to the total floor area of the home. Prepaid purchases count the same as an account, you just need the receipts or the meter statement. Salaried employees are heavily restricted by s23(m) and R-EMP-008.
Where people go wrong
Estimating a percentage because it feels right. The accepted method is floor area, and you need the measurements and the receipts. The second trap is claiming electricity for a room that is also the guest bedroom, which fails the exclusive use test outright.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Modest but legitimate. On a typical home office share you recover a small fraction of your electricity bill at your marginal rate. It is worth doing correctly, it is not worth inventing.
Authority s11(a)
excluded by Salaried employees cannot deduct ordinary work costs
governed by Home office for a sole proprietor
may unlock Home office expenditure
Energy
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Printer, scanner and ink or toner
Apportioned
The printer is an asset and the ink and paper are consumables, both claimable on the business use share.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
The machine is written off under wear and tear, or in full if it is under the small item threshold, which most home and small office printers are. Ink, toner and paper are consumables deductible in the year. Where the printer also prints the children's school projects, apportion.
Where people go wrong
The consumables are usually the bigger cost over the printer's life and are the part people forget to claim. Keep the till slips.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Claim it, it is legitimate. It is also a reminder that the running cost of cheap hardware is where the money actually goes.
Authority s11(e)
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
governed by Wear and tear on business assets
Technology
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Renting out a spare room, granny flat or garden cottage informally, not via a booking platform
Apportioned
Rent received is taxable rental income whether it arrived through a booking platform, a WhatsApp group or a handshake, and the same apportioned running costs are deductible against it as for any other let portion of a home.
Claim the business share only · Anyone
Rates, a share of the bond interest or rent, insurance and repairs to that part of the house follow the same apportionment logic already in the catalogue for a formal let.
Where people go wrong
Informal, cash-collected room rentals are where personal and rental finances get blended without a paper trail, exactly the scenario that falls apart first under a bank statement review.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Formalising it, a simple lease, a bank transfer instead of cash, protects both the income declaration and the expense claim at the same time.
Authority s1
governed by Short term letting is still rental income
may unlock Apportionment for part of a property or part of a year
Private, informal and neighbour arrangements
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Repainting the whole house when you have a home office in it
Apportioned
Painting the whole house is only claimable for the floor-area share attributable to the qualifying home office, not in full.
Claim the business share only · Anyone
Because the work benefits the whole property, you apply the same office over total floor area percentage that you use for rates and electricity. The work must still be a repair rather than an improvement. If the home office does not pass the exclusivity test, none of it is claimable and the entire cost is a private household expense.
Where people go wrong
Claiming the full painter's invoice because the office got painted too. The office got a small share of the benefit and that is all you may claim.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
A small share of a large invoice, so it is worth adding to a claim you are already making, but it does not make painting the house a tax exercise.
Authority s11(d)
governed by Repairs to business property
governed by Home office expenditure
Home office
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Router, mesh wifi or network switch
Apportioned
Networking hardware for the business is claimable, usually in full in the year because it is a low value asset.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
Routers, switches and access points used in the trade are plant subject to wear and tear, and almost always fall under the small item write-off threshold so they come off in the year brought into use. If the router serves the whole house as well as the home office, apportion on the same basis you use for the internet line.
Where people go wrong
Claiming a full home mesh system that covers the whole house because one node sits in the office. Apportion, or claim only the units genuinely dedicated to business use.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Small, clean claim. Take it, do not build a strategy on it.
Authority s11(e)
governed by Wear and tear on business assets
Technology
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Salary paid to a driver
Apportioned
A driver employed for the business is a deductible salary cost, but a domestic driver is private.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
Wages paid to a driver employed in the trade are deductible in full, together with the employer's UIF and any other statutory contributions. Where the same person also drives the family, the cost must be apportioned and only the business share claimed. Whoever pays them, the driver is an employee and PAYE, UIF and a contract of employment obligations follow, along with the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.
Where people go wrong
Paying a driver in cash with no registration, no payslip and no UIF, and then trying to deduct it. Without a payroll record and proof of payment the deduction is easily disallowed, and the labour and UIF exposure is worse than the tax.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Yes where the role is genuinely for the business. Register the employee properly, it protects the deduction and may open the employment tax incentive for a young worker.
Authority s11(a)
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
may unlock Employment tax incentive
Vehicles and travel
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Second monitor for a desk
Apportioned
A monitor for business use is claimable, usually in full in the year because it falls under the small item threshold, apportioned for any private use.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
Most monitors cost less than the small item write-off threshold, so instead of spreading them they can generally be written off in full in the year brought into use. Confirm the threshold applicable to your year. The business use share still applies.
Where people go wrong
A large monitor that doubles as the lounge TV or the family gaming screen is not a 100 percent business asset. This is a small claim and not worth defending an inflated version of it.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Yes, small, clean and immediate. But it is a productivity purchase, not a tax strategy.
Authority s11(e)
governed by Wear and tear on business assets
Technology
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Share of bond interest for a home office in a home you own
Apportioned
Only the interest portion of the bond counts, apportioned by floor area, and only if the office passes the exclusivity test.
Claim the business share only · Anyone
The bond instalment is made up of capital and interest, and only the interest is ever deductible. Take the annual interest from the bank's tax certificate or bond statement, apply the office floor area percentage, and claim that. Capital repayments, the bond initiation fee, bond registration costs and transfer duty are all capital in nature and are not deductible, although some of them may go into base cost for capital gains purposes.
Where people go wrong
Claiming a share of the full monthly bond instalment instead of just the interest. This is the most common arithmetic error in home office claims and it usually overstates the deduction by a lot in the early years of a bond.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Meaningful for a homeowner with a large bond, but read the capital gains item first, because claiming a home office is exactly the evidence that reduces your primary residence exclusion when you sell.
Authority s23(b)
excluded by Transfer duty and bond costs are not deductible now
governed by Home office for a sole proprietor
governed by Home office expenditure
may unlock Home partly used for trade reduces the exclusion
Home office
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Share of the rent for a home office in a rented home
Apportioned
If the home office passes the exclusivity test you claim the floor-area share of your rent, and if it fails you claim nothing.
Claim the business share only · Anyone
The accepted method is the floor area of the office divided by the total floor area of the home, applied to the rent for the period you used it. Rent is squarely a premises expense, so it is one of the few costs a salaried employee can still claim once s23(b) is satisfied, because s23(m) leaves premises expenditure contemplated in s23(b) intact. Apportion for part of a year if you only started mid year.
Where people go wrong
Measuring generously. Inflating the office square metres or including a passage, a bathroom or the garage in the office area is the fastest way to have the calculation rejected. Keep a measured floor plan and the lease.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Usually the largest single item in a home office claim for a tenant, and worth doing properly if you genuinely qualify. It is still only your marginal rate on the apportioned amount.
Authority s23(b)
governed by Home office for a sole proprietor
governed by Home office expenditure
Home office
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Tablet such as an iPad
Apportioned
A tablet is claimable on the same basis as a laptop, but the private use share is usually higher and harder to defend.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
Written off under wear and tear over the computer equipment period, or in full if it falls under the small item threshold. The business portion is what you claim. Where the tablet is a genuine work tool, for example a designer's drawing tablet or a technician's site device, the business share can legitimately be high; where it is the household Netflix device it cannot.
Where people go wrong
Claiming a tablet at 100 percent when the App Store history says otherwise. Tablets are the device SARS is least likely to accept as exclusively business.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Marginal. Unless it is genuinely a work tool, the small deduction is not a reason to buy one.
Authority s11(e)
governed by Wear and tear on business assets
Technology
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Tutoring, coaching or lessons given from a room at home, paid informally
Apportioned
Runs on the same home office exclusivity test already in the catalogue: a room used only for lessons, during lesson hours, can support a floor area apportionment of rates, electricity and a share of bond interest or rent, claimed against the fees received.
Claim the business share only · Anyone
The fees received are taxable income, and the apportioned home costs are deducted against that income using the same A over B floor-area formula SARS sets out for any home office claim.
Where people go wrong
A lounge used for lessons twice a week and for family life the rest of the time fails the same exclusive-use test that kills most home office claims. Informal income does not get a softer test.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Worth doing properly the moment the tutoring becomes a standing weekly income, because the apportioned home costs are real money back.
Authority s23(b)
governed by Home office for a sole proprietor
may unlock Home office expenditure
Private, informal and neighbour arrangements
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Uber, Bolt and metered taxi fares
Apportioned
Fares for genuine business trips are deductible, but you almost certainly cannot claim VAT on them.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
An e-hailing or taxi fare incurred to get to a client, a site or the airport for business is deductible in full for that trip. The ride history in the app gives you date, route and amount, which is strong evidence, so tag business trips as you go. On VAT, the road transport of fare-paying passengers is an exempt supply, which means there is no input tax to claim even if the driver gives you a receipt.
Where people go wrong
A vendor claiming input tax on the monthly Uber statement. Check the exemption before you do. On the income tax side, the trap is the ride home after drinks with a client, which is private and often entertainment as well.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
For someone who uses e-hailing instead of owning a car for work, this is a clean and well evidenced deduction. Export the ride history annually.
Authority s11(a)
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
governed by Business travel, flights and accommodation
Vehicles and travel
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Vehicle finance instalment versus the interest portion
Apportioned
The monthly instalment is not a deduction, only the finance charge portion inside it is, and then only for the business share.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
An instalment is part capital repayment and part interest. The capital part buys the asset and is recovered through wear and tear instead. The finance charges are deductible where the borrowing was for a business asset, apportioned for private use of the vehicle. Your bank or finance house can give you an annual statement splitting capital from finance charges. This mirrors the well known bond instalment versus bond interest point on rental property.
Where people go wrong
Claiming the whole debit order. It double counts, because you are already writing the vehicle off, and it is one of the easiest things for SARS to reverse on verification.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
The interest is a genuine cost you are already paying, so claiming it correctly is free money. Financing a car in order to create a deduction is not.
Authority s11(a)
governed by Interest incurred on business borrowing
may unlock Wear and tear on business assets
Vehicles and travel
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Vehicle insurance premiums
Apportioned
Insurance on a vehicle used in your trade is deductible for the business use portion.
Claim the business share only · Sole proprietor or freelancer
The premium is an ordinary running cost of the vehicle, apportioned by business kilometres. Where the policy covers several vehicles or a household, only the portion relating to the business vehicle and its business use qualifies. A payout you receive later is not free money, it may trigger a recoupment against the amounts you have written off.
Where people go wrong
Claiming the whole household short term insurance premium because the car is on the same policy. Get the schedule and use the line item for the vehicle, then apportion that.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
A legitimate claim on a cost you must carry anyway. It is not a reason to over insure.
Authority s11(a)
governed by General deduction for expenditure in producing income
Vehicles and travel
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
Water on the municipal account where there is a home office
Apportioned
Water is a premises running cost, but it is a weak claim because a home office consumes almost no water and SARS looks at it that way.
Claim the business share only · Anyone
Where the home office qualifies, the floor-area share of water on the municipal account is arguably claimable in the same way as rates and electricity. In practice the amounts are tiny and the connection between an office and water consumption is thin, which makes it a poor place to be aggressive. For a business that actually uses water in its trade the position is different and stronger.
Where people go wrong
Padding the claim with the whole water and sanitation line because it sits on the same bill as the rates. If the office does not use the water, the claim is hard to defend.
Work out your share
Enter a cost and a percentage. The percentage has to be one you can defend with
something real, floor area for a room, a logbook for a vehicle, an itemised bill
for a phone.
Does buying it save you tax?
Barely. The rand value is negligible and it adds audit risk to a bigger claim.
Authority s23(b)
governed by Home office for a sole proprietor
governed by Home office expenditure
Home office
Research, not advice.
This has not yet been checked against the Act or a SARS guide, so treat it as a starting
point and a question for your practitioner, not a claim you can make.
