South African taxes for Brits: residence, the UK treaty and your State Pension

Once you're tax resident in South Africa, SARS taxes your worldwide income; the trick is leaving the UK system cleanly and using the treaty so nothing gets taxed twice.

The short version

• South African residents are taxed on worldwide income, under either the "ordinarily resident" test or a day-count physical presence test [1].
• The tax year runs from 1 March to the end of February, not 6 April to 5 April [1].
• Rates for 2026/27 (the 2027 year of assessment) run from 18% to 45%, and you pay nothing below R99,000 (about £4,460) if you're under 65 [2].
• The UK State Pension is exempt in South Africa as a foreign social security payment, and under the treaty most private pensions are taxed only where you live [1][3].
• The State Pension is frozen while you live in South Africa: no yearly increase [4].

Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = ZAR 22.1972), rounded.

Becoming tax resident in South Africa

South Africa, like the UK, taxes on residence rather than citizenship. You're resident if you pass either of two tests [1]:

1. Ordinarily resident. This is a facts-and-circumstances test: is South Africa the place you normally live and return to? Someone who has moved to Cape Town with their family, home and job will usually be ordinarily resident from the start.
2. The physical presence test. If you're not ordinarily resident, you're still resident if you spend more than 91 days in South Africa in the current tax year, more than 91 days in each of the five previous years, and more than 915 days in total across those five years [1].

The second test mostly catches long-term "swallows" who winter in the Cape year after year. Five years of 100-day stays can make you resident without you noticing.

Once you're resident, your worldwide income is taxable in South Africa [1]. That includes UK rent, UK interest and dividends, and UK pensions, subject to the exemptions and the treaty below.

The 2026/27 rates

SARS calls the year from 1 March 2026 to 28 February 2027 the "2027 year of assessment". The rates are [2]:

Source: SARS rates of tax for individuals [2].

Instead of a personal allowance, South Africa gives a rebate off your tax bill: R17,820 for everyone, plus R9,765 from 65 and a further R3,249 from 75 [2]. In effect, nobody under 65 pays tax on income up to R99,000 (about £4,460), rising to R153,250 (about £6,900) from 65 and R171,300 (about £7,720) from 75 [2]. That's much lower than the UK's £12,570 Personal Allowance for 2026/27 [5], but the top rate kicks in at a higher income than the UK's 45% band.

South African interest is exempt up to R23,800 a year if you're under 65, or R34,500 from 65 (2026 figures), though that exemption doesn't cover foreign interest such as a UK savings account [1].

Leaving the UK tax system properly

South African residence doesn't automatically end your UK tax residence. The UK decides that under its own Statutory Residence Test. If you're resident in both countries, the treaty's tie-breaker decides where you're treated as resident: first where you have a permanent home, then where your "personal and economic relations are closer", then your habitual abode and finally nationality [3].

The usual steps when you move:

1. Tell HMRC you're leaving, usually with form P85 if you're not in Self Assessment. See our guide to leaving the UK and your last tax year.
2. Check split-year treatment, which can split the UK tax year you leave into a UK part and an overseas part. See split-year treatment.
3. Register with SARS once you're resident and earning, and keep records of the day you arrived.
4. Claim treaty relief on UK income where the treaty gives South Africa the taxing right, using HMRC's DT-Individual form.

The UK and South African tax years don't line up (6 April and 1 March), so your first and last years in each country need care. A tax adviser who knows both countries can check your case.

The UK–South Africa tax treaty

The UK and South Africa have a double taxation convention from 2002, amended by a 2010 protocol and modified by the OECD Multilateral Instrument [6]. The parts that matter most to Brits [3]:

Where both countries can tax, South Africa generally gives a credit for the foreign tax, and you'll need proof of the UK tax paid [1]. Our guide to double taxation agreements and reliefs explains the mechanics.

UK rent while you're in Cape Town

If you let your UK home, the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme applies: apply on form NRL1 to get rent paid without basic-rate tax taken off, and file a UK Self Assessment return each year. You then declare the rent in South Africa too, with credit for UK tax. Our guide to UK income while you live abroad has the detail.

Your UK State Pension and other pensions

Is it taxed?

South Africa exempts "any amount received by or accrued to any resident under the social security system of any other country" [1]. That covers the UK State Pension. It also exempts a pension, annuity or lump sum from abroad paid for past employment outside South Africa [1], which can cover a UK workplace pension built up while you worked in the UK.

Put that together with the treaty, which generally gives the taxing right on private pensions to the country where you live [3], and many retired Brits in Cape Town pay little or no tax on UK pensions earned from UK work. That's a real advantage, but check your own position before relying on it: government service pensions are normally taxed in the UK [3], and the details of each pension matter. A tax adviser who knows both countries can check your case.

Is it frozen?

Yes. South Africa isn't on DWP's list of countries where the State Pension goes up each year [4]. You'll get the rate you had when you left, or when you first claimed if you were already living here, and it stays there. The full new State Pension is £241.30 a week in 2026/27 [7]; someone who left on that rate would still get £241.30 in ten years' time. It goes back up to the current rate if you return to live in the UK [4]. Our guide to the frozen UK State Pension in South Africa runs the numbers.

Transfers

You may hear about moving a UK pension into a South African retirement fund. Pension transfers need regulated financial advice, can trigger the overseas transfer charge, and are a favourite of scammers. Check the FCA and MoneyHelper scam warnings first; we never recommend a transfer.

Working for a UK employer from Cape Town

If you're on the Remote Work Visa, your salary is earned for work done in South Africa, so South Africa can tax it, and your UK employer may need to stop or adjust PAYE. A South African resident working abroad for more than 183 days in 12 months, including a continuous stretch of more than 60 days, can get up to R1.25 million (about £56,300) of foreign employment income exempt [8], but that's for residents working outside South Africa, not for remote workers living in Cape Town.

Ask in our community group for Brits in South Africa, here, how others have handled their first SARS return. Then get proper advice before you file.

Sources

1. SARS: Taxation in South Africa 2026 (guide) (30 September 2026)
2. SARS: Rates of tax for individuals
3. GOV.UK (HMRC): 2002 UK–South Africa Double Taxation Convention as amended by the 2010 Protocol
4. GOV.UK (DWP): Countries where we pay an annual increase in the State Pension (updated 27 October 2026)
5. GOV.UK: Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances
6. GOV.UK (HMRC): South Africa tax treaties
7. GOV.UK: The new State Pension – what you'll get
8. SARS: Frequently asked questions – foreign employment income exemption

Keep reading

• The frozen UK State Pension in South Africa
• Banking in South Africa as a Brit
• The Statutory Residence Test explained
• UK workplace and private pensions abroad, and the transfer warnings