Before you start

A passport and current visa, permit or accreditation
An honest day count for South Africa this tax year and each of the previous five
A South African bank account and address for SARS eFiling
Records of every income stream, and of any foreign tax already paid

Step-by-step

1
Establish whether you are a South African tax resident at all
Two independent tests. 'Ordinarily resident' asks where your real home is, on the facts. The physical-presence test is pure arithmetic: more than 91 days in South Africa in the current tax year, AND more than 91 days in each of the five preceding tax years, AND more than 915 days across those five in total. Failing any leg means the test does not catch you. Remote-work-visa holders should read the visa's own SARS registration carve-out alongside these tests rather than instead of them.
OnlineWho: You, or a tax practitioner for borderline casesHalf a day plus travel records
2
If you are accredited, confirm exactly what is exempt and what is not
Diplomatic and consular agents are generally exempt from South African tax on their official emoluments under the Vienna Conventions, given effect domestically by the Diplomatic Immunities and Privileges Act. That exemption is narrower than people assume: it does not usually cover locally recruited staff, a spouse who takes local employment, or South African-source income unconnected to the mission. Get the position from your mission and, where a spouse will work, in writing before they accept an offer.
Via employerWho: Your mission's administrative officer, with SARS confirmation where neededBefore any local employment is accepted
3
Get a SARS tax reference number
If you are taxable here you need a tax number. Employees are usually registered automatically when their employer first submits PAYE, or you can register on SARS eFiling or the MobiApp, or in person at a branch by appointment. SARS head office is in Pretoria at Nieuw Muckleneuk, but head office is not a walk-in service point — use the branch appointment system like everyone else. The number is issued once and used for life.
OnlineWho: You; your employer may trigger itInstant to a few daysFree
4
Employees run on PAYE; freelancers run on provisional tax
If you are employed, PAYE is withheld monthly and you file an annual ITR12 to reconcile, claiming retirement annuity deductions and medical scheme credits. If you earn business or freelance income not subject to PAYE, you are a provisional taxpayer and estimate-and-pay twice a year on an IRP6 — by 31 August and by the end of February, with an optional third top-up around end-September to limit interest. Under-estimating attracts penalties, so err high; SARS refunds on assessment.
OnlineWho: Your employer withholds; you file, or your practitioner doesMonthly PAYE, plus one or three filings a year
5
Budget for the Tshwane municipal bill, which resets on 1 July
There is no provincial or city income tax, but the City of Tshwane approves its tariffs with its annual budget and they take effect on 1 July, so the cost of living steps up mid-year. For 2026/27 electricity rose by roughly 8.8% and property rates by about 5%, and a monthly basic charge of around R142.50 now sits on prepaid electricity accounts before any units are bought. If you have relocated from Johannesburg, none of City Power's figures apply here — Tshwane is a separate distributor with a separate tariff book.
OnlineWho: You, and your landlord or managing agentAnnually from 1 July

Documents you’ll need

IRP5 or IT3(a) certificate from your employer
Travel records evidencing days in and out of South Africa
Invoices, expense records and IRP6 estimates for provisional taxpayers
Proof of foreign tax paid and the relevant treaty article for foreign tax credits
Medical scheme and retirement annuity certificates for credits and deductions
DIRCO accreditation documents where a diplomatic exemption is claimed

Things most newcomers don’t know

A diplomatic tax exemption covers official emoluments, not the household. Locally recruited mission staff and a spouse who takes local South African employment are generally outside it and taxable in the ordinary way.

Pretoria holds well over a hundred missions, so this affects a large share of arrivals here and virtually nobody in the other South African cities. Families routinely assume the accredited spouse's status blankets the household, and then discover a PAYE obligation, a SARS registration requirement and sometimes a work-authorisation question after employment has already started.

Source: Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations; Diplomatic Immunities and Privileges Act 37 of 2001

The physical-presence test is three conditions joined by AND: more than 91 days in the current tax year, more than 91 days in each of the five preceding tax years, and more than 915 days across those five in total. Fail any one and the test does not make you a resident.

Because it is arithmetic rather than judgement, people become South African tax residents — and therefore taxable on worldwide income — without ever deciding to move here. It also cuts the other way for anyone splitting time deliberately. The separate 'ordinarily resident' test can still catch you on the facts regardless of days, and that is the leg people forget.

Source: SARS — tax and non-residents

Section 10(1)(o)(ii) exempts the first R1.25 million of foreign EMPLOYMENT income only, and only where you spent more than 183 full days outside South Africa in a 12-month period including a continuous block of more than 60 days.

It is widely described as a general R1.25 million foreign-income exemption. It is not: freelance and consulting income, business profits, rental and investment income all fall outside it. A consultant who converts a foreign salary into invoices for flexibility can silently lose the exemption, which is a tax decision disguised as a contracting one.

Source: SARS — foreign employment income exemption

The City of Tshwane is its own electricity distributor with its own tariff book, and for 2026/27 it introduced a monthly basic charge of around R142.50 that applies to prepaid connections before a single unit is bought.

Prepaid is normally understood as pay-for-what-you-use, so the charge appears as electricity that simply vanishes from a top-up. It also breaks the mental model of anyone who moved from Johannesburg, where City Power's equivalent charge is a different amount with different exemptions. Establish in the lease who carries it, because landlord and tenant each tend to assume the other does.

Source: City of Tshwane approved 2026/27 tariffs

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming an accredited spouse's diplomatic tax exemption covers the whole household, including a partner's local job.
Drifting into tax residency through the physical-presence day count while still thinking of yourself as a visitor.
Treating the R1.25 million exemption as covering all foreign income when it applies to foreign employment income only.
Planning around a calendar year: the tax year ends in February, provisional payments fall in August and February, and Tshwane's tariff year starts in July.
Carrying over Johannesburg utility assumptions — Tshwane sets its own electricity tariffs and its own prepaid basic charge, and the numbers do not match.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.