Your Details

Select the year of assessment (1 March – 28/29 February). The interest exemption has been unchanged since 2016.
Your age on the last day of the year of assessment. From 65 the exemption rises from R23 800 to R34 500, and you get the secondary rebate.
Under 6565–7475+
40 years old — exemption R 23 800
A non-resident's South African interest is exempt from normal tax under s 10(1)(h) and bears 15% withholding tax instead — unless they were in SA for more than 183 days in the preceding 12 months, or the debt is tied to a South African permanent establishment.
Your salary and other taxable income for the year, before the interest. This sets the marginal rate your taxable interest is taxed at.
R

Local Interest Received (annual)

The interest on your IT3(b) certificate from the bank — cheque, savings, notice and fixed deposit accounts.
R
The interest portion distributed by a local money market or income unit trust. Dividends and capital gains from the same fund are taxed differently and go elsewhere on your return.
R
Interest on RSA Retail Savings Bonds is ordinary local interest — it uses the same exemption.
R
Interest on a loan you advanced, a mortgage bond you hold, interest from SARS on an overpayment, or interest from any other South African source.
R
Interest inside a tax-free savings account is exempt under section 12T and is expressly carved out of section 10(1)(i) — it is not taxed and does not use up your R23 800 / R34 500.
R

Exempt under section 12T and excluded from section 10(1)(i) — this does not consume your interest exemption.

Where a year of assessment is shorter than 12 months — you died, ceased to be a tax resident, or an estate was wound up — the proviso to s 10(1)(i) pro-rates the exemption by days ÷ 365. Applies from the 2024 year of assessment.

This calculator provides estimates only and does not constitute tax advice. It covers local interest — interest from a source in the Republic. Foreign interest has no exempt portion and is fully taxable (a section 6quat credit may apply for foreign tax). Interest in a joint account is split between the account holders in their share of it, and each holder has their own exemption. Interest earned by a trust or a company gets no exemption. Consult a registered tax professional for your situation.

Tax on Your Local Interest

R 992

R 3 200 of your R 27 000 interest is taxable, at your 31% marginal rate.

Total Interest

R 27 000

Tax-Free

R 23 800

You Keep

R 26 008

2027 (Mar 2026 – Feb 2027)Section 10(1)(i) exemption R 23 800

Your Tax-Free Interest Room

per person, not per account
Used R 23 800Exemption fully used

Every extra rand of local interest is now taxed at your 31% marginal rate. A TFSA is the usual next step — interest inside it is exempt and does not touch this allowance.

Interest vs Tax

Detailed Calculation

Bank / savings account interestR 18 000
Money market / unit trust interestR 9 000
Total Local InterestR 27 000
Less: section 10(1)(i) exemption− R 23 800
Taxable Local InterestR 3 200
Your other taxable incomeR 450 000
Tax at your 31% marginal rateR 992
Interest After TaxR 26 008
Effective tax on your interest: 3.7%

How the interest exemption works

It is one allowance per person, not per account. Every local interest source you hold is added together first, and the R23 800 comes off the total. Splitting your money across five banks does not give you five exemptions.

Local interest only. Section 10(1)(i) exempts interest "from a source in the Republic". Interest from an offshore account is fully taxable with no exempt portion — declare it separately on your ITR12.

A TFSA is on top, not instead. Interest on a tax free investment is exempt under section 12T and is expressly excluded from section 10(1)(i), so it never eats into this allowance.

The taxable balance is taxed at your marginal rate. There is no separate rate for interest — the excess is added to your other income and taxed in your top bracket, which is why the same R10 000 of interest costs a 45% taxpayer far more than an 18% one.