SARS Tax Refund 2026: How Much Will You Get Back, and Why

Your SARS refund depends on one thing: whether the employees' tax (PAYE) already deducted from your salary this year was more than the tax you actually owe once rebates, medical credits and any deductions are applied. If it was, SARS pays you the difference — refunds of R100 or more go out within 72 hours once your return is assessed, provided your banking details are correct and nothing needs checking first. There's no fixed "average refund": it depends entirely on your income, your age and what you contribute to a retirement fund or medical scheme. Filing Season 2026 (covering the 2025/2026 tax year) runs for non-provisional taxpayers until 23 October 2026, so if you haven't checked yet, this is the moment.

Quick facts: SARS tax refunds for the 2025/2026 tax year

Figures for the 2025/2026 tax year (1 March 2025 – 28 February 2026), checked against SARS's rates of tax for individuals and medical tax credit rates in September 2026.

Why do some people get a refund and others don't?

Your employer deducts PAYE every month based on an estimate of what you'll owe for the full tax year. That estimate is often slightly wrong, because it doesn't always know about things that reduce your real tax bill: a retirement annuity you pay for yourself, a medical scheme you belong to outside your employer's group scheme, or a change in income partway through the year.

When you file (or when SARS auto-assesses you using data from your employer, bank, medical scheme and retirement fund), it recalculates your actual liability for the year. If your PAYE was more than that liability, you get a refund. If it was less — commonly because you earned untaxed income on the side — you owe SARS instead. A SASSA grant you receive, or manage for a child or elderly relative, isn't taxable at all, so it never factors into that calculation — see our guide to SASSA grant amounts for the current figures. If you already followed our step-by-step guide to SARS eFiling to submit your return, the number on your notice of assessment (ITA34) is the one that matters, not any estimate from a calculator.

How SARS actually works out the number

The calculation, in order:

1. Tax on your taxable income, using the year's tax brackets.
2. Minus your rebate (a fixed rand amount, not a percentage) — R17,235 for the 2025/2026 tax year if you're under 65, per SARS's rates for individuals.
3. Minus your medical scheme fees tax credit, if you belong to a medical scheme — R364 a month for you as the main member, another R364 for a first dependant, and R246 for each dependant after that, for the 2025/2026 tax year (confirmed on SARS's medical tax credit rates page).
4. Compare that final number to the PAYE already deducted from your payslips (shown on your IRP5). The difference either side is your refund or your debt.

The 2025/2026 tax brackets (the year Filing Season 2026 assesses)

Source: SARS, rates of tax for individuals, checked September 2026.

Those are last year's brackets, the ones Filing Season 2026 assesses. If you want to check your PAYE for the current 2026/27 tax year instead, run your salary through our South Africa income tax calculator, which uses this year's updated brackets and primary rebate.

Worked example: how a refund actually adds up

Say you're Thandiwe, an operations manager in Durban earning R25,000 a month — R300,000 for the 2025/2026 tax year. Your employer's payroll doesn't know about two things you pay for privately, outside any group scheme: R1,500 a month into a retirement annuity, and a hospital plan for yourself only (no dependants).

Because payroll didn't factor those in, your IRP5 shows PAYE deducted as if you had neither:

• Tax on R300,000: R42,678 + 26% of (R300,000 − R237,100) = R42,678 + R16,354 = R59,032
• Minus primary rebate R17,235 = R41,797 PAYE paid for the year

When you file and claim both, your actual liability looks different:

• Taxable income after the R18,000-a-year retirement annuity: R300,000 − R18,000 = R282,000 (well under the 27.5%-of-income/R350,000 cap SARS allows for retirement contributions, per its Section 11F guidance)
• Tax on R282,000: R42,678 + 26% of (R282,000 − R237,100) = R42,678 + R11,674 = R54,352
• Minus primary rebate R17,235 = R37,117
• Minus medical scheme fees tax credit, one member, R364 × 12 = R4,368 → R32,749 actual tax owed

Refund: R41,797 − R32,749 = R9,048.

That gap — between what payroll assumed and what your return actually claims — is where most refunds come from. (Thandiwe is a hypothetical example to show the maths; the rates and rules behind it are real and sourced above.)

When will the money actually land?

If you're due a refund of R100 or more, SARS pays it within 72 hours of your assessment being finalised — but only if your banking details are correct, you have no outstanding returns or debt, and SARS hasn't flagged your return for a verification or audit, according to SARS's own explanation of how auto-assessment works. A refund under R100 doesn't get paid out on its own — it rolls over and adds to next year's assessment.

You can check where your refund stands without waiting for an SMS:

• eFiling or the SARS MobiApp — tap "Refund Status" on the app's home screen.
• WhatsApp: message "Hi" to 0800 11 7277 and select "Refund Status."
• USSD: dial 1347277#, choose option 3, and enter your ID or passport number.

(Source: SARS, how to check your tax refund status, checked September 2026.)

What can push your refund higher

• Retirement annuity or provident fund contributions SARS doesn't already know about. You can deduct the lesser of 27.5% of your remuneration or taxable income, or R350,000 a year (2025/2026 tax year), for contributions to a pension, provident or retirement annuity fund — SARS's Section 11F rule. If you pay into one privately rather than through your employer's payroll, this only counts when you file.
• Medical scheme contributions outside your employer's scheme. The credit is fixed per member, not linked to how much you actually paid the scheme, and it's easy for it to slip through if your membership isn't registered with your employer. That also means the credit is the same whether you're on a basic hospital plan or a full comprehensive option — see our comparison of medical aid, hospital plan and gap cover costs if you're deciding between them.
• Interest income you kept under the exemption. South African-source interest is exempt up to R23,800 a year if you're under 65, or R34,500 if you're 65 or older, per SARS's interest and dividends page — money in a savings account or fixed deposit under that limit doesn't add to your tax bill at all.

Why you might owe SARS instead

The same reconciliation cuts the other way if you earned money your employer's payroll never taxed: rental income, interest above the exemption, or freelance and side-hustle income paid straight into your account. If you're building income from platforms or gigs alongside a job — see our guide on starting freelance work without experience in Africa — that income still has to go on your SARS return, and if nobody withheld tax on it during the year, you'll likely owe rather than get a refund. The same applies if you took a two-pot savings pot withdrawal from your retirement fund during the year — the tax your fund withheld at the directive stage is only an estimate, and it gets reconciled, for better or worse, when your return is assessed. A debt of R100 or more is due by the date SARS gives you, and interest accrues on outstanding tax regardless of the amount.

What to do with the refund once it lands

If you don't need it immediately, put it somewhere that keeps working rather than letting it sit in a current account. Run the amount through our compound interest calculator to see what a lump sum like R9,000 could grow into over a few years in a fixed deposit or unit trust, instead of spending it the week it arrives. A tax-free savings account is one of the cleanest places to put it, since the growth is never taxed — see our guide to the best TFSA in South Africa for how much room you have this year and where to open one.

What to watch out for

SARS refund season brings out scammers every year. A real SARS message will never ask you to click a link to "claim" a refund, and SARS will never request your PIN, password, OTP or banking details by email, SMS, social media or phone call, according to its own scams and phishing guidance. If you get one of those messages, don't click anything — check your status directly through eFiling, the MobiApp, or the WhatsApp/USSD numbers above, and report the message to phishing@sars.gov.za or the Fraud and Anti-Corruption Hotline on 0800 00 2870.

For more South Africa-specific breakdowns like this one, browse our South Africa hub or the wider personal finance section.

Frequently asked questions

How long does a SARS refund take to pay out?

If your refund is R100 or more and nothing's outstanding on your account, SARS pays it within 72 hours of your assessment being completed. Incorrect banking details, unfiled returns, outstanding debt, or a verification/audit flag will delay it.

What's the smallest refund SARS will actually pay me?

R100. Anything below that isn't paid out on its own — it carries over and is added to your next tax year's assessment.

Why did I get a much smaller refund than a friend with a similar salary?

Refunds depend on what each of you contributes to retirement funds and medical schemes outside payroll, your age (which changes your rebate and tax threshold), and whether either of you earned untaxed extra income during the year.

Can I still get a refund if I was auto-assessed and didn't file anything?

Yes — if SARS's auto-assessment shows tax paid above what you owe, the refund pays out the same way, generally within 72 hours, without you filing a return. You only need to file if the auto-assessment is missing something or wrong — see our guide on who actually has to submit a SARS tax return if you are not sure whether that applies to you.

What if SARS says I owe money instead of a refund?

It means your PAYE for the year was less than your actual tax bill, usually because of extra income that wasn't taxed as you earned it. Amounts of R100 or more are due by the date on your assessment, and interest keeps accruing on any unpaid balance. And if you haven't filed at all yet, check what happens if you miss SARS's 23 October deadline — the penalty for a late return is separate from any tax or interest you owe.

Is that SMS saying I have a SARS refund waiting real?

Treat it as a scam until proven otherwise. SARS never sends links to claim a refund or asks for banking details or OTPs by SMS or email — check your actual status through eFiling, the MobiApp, WhatsApp, or USSD instead of tapping anything in the message.