Before you start

A passport and current visa or permit
An honest count of days in 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
Two independent tests. 'Ordinarily resident' asks where your real home is, judged on facts rather than days. The physical-presence test is 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, not instead of them.
OnlineWho: You, or a tax practitioner for borderline casesHalf a day plus travel records
2
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 yourself on SARS eFiling or the MobiApp, or in person at a Durban branch by appointment. The number is issued once and used for life. If you are working on a fixed-term contract in the port, shipping or BPO sector, check whether your employer is treating you as an employee or an independent contractor, because the two produce entirely different filing obligations.
OnlineWho: You; your employer may trigger itInstant to a few daysFree
3
Employees run on PAYE; contractors run on provisional tax
Employees have PAYE withheld monthly and file an annual ITR12 to reconcile, claiming retirement annuity deductions and medical scheme credits. If you earn business, consulting 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. Durban's contracting culture in shipping and logistics means a lot of people fall into this category without being told.
OnlineWho: Your employer withholds; you file, or a practitioner doesMonthly PAYE, plus one or three filings a year
4
Claim the foreign employment exemption correctly if it applies
A South African tax resident who works abroad can exempt the first R1.25 million of foreign EMPLOYMENT income under section 10(1)(o)(ii), but only if outside South Africa for more than 183 full days in a 12-month period including a continuous block of more than 60 days. Seafarers have a separate and more generous regime under section 10(1)(o)(i) for officers and crew on ships engaged in international transportation or prospecting — worth knowing in a port city, and worth confirming with a practitioner because the conditions are specific.
OnlineWho: You, with a tax practitionerAt filing, with day records to hand
5
Budget for the eThekwini bill, which resets on 1 July
There is no city income tax, but eThekwini's tariffs and property rates are approved with its annual budget and take effect on 1 July, so your cost of living steps up mid-year. For 2026/27 that meant 9% on electricity and 12% on domestic water, with sanitation up 8%, refuse 9.5% and average property rates 2% — each of them cut back from a steeper draft after public consultation, so quotes taken from the March budget reporting run high. eThekwini's increases have been among the steepest of the metros in recent budgets, and water is the line to watch given the City's losses. Establish in writing what the lease passes through.
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
Seafarer employment records and voyage documentation where the shipping exemption is claimed

Things most newcomers don’t know

South Africa has a separate and more generous tax exemption for seafarers under section 10(1)(o)(i), covering officers and crew on ships engaged in international transportation or in prospecting and mining at sea — distinct from the R1.25 million capped exemption everyone else uses.

In the country's busiest port this is not an edge case, and it is routinely missed by advisers who reach for the standard foreign-employment exemption instead. The conditions are specific — the nature of the vessel's activity and the days spent outside South Africa both matter — so it is worth a practitioner who has done it before rather than a general return preparer.

Source: Income Tax Act section 10(1)(o)(i); SARS guidance on foreign employment income

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. Fail any single leg and it does not make you a resident.

Because it is arithmetic rather than judgement, people become South African tax residents — and taxable on worldwide income — without ever deciding to move here. Durban's warm winters make it a favourite for long repeat visits, which is exactly the pattern that accumulates days. The separate 'ordinarily resident' test can still catch you on the facts, and that is the leg most 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 were outside South Africa for more than 183 full days in a 12-month period including one continuous block of more than 60 days.

It is widely described as a general foreign-income exemption. It is not: consulting fees, business profits, rental and investment income all sit outside it. Durban's contracting culture means people frequently convert a salary into invoices for flexibility, and in doing so silently make a tax decision they did not know they were making.

Source: SARS — foreign employment income exemption

eThekwini approves its tariffs with its budget each 1 July, and the 2026/27 round put 12% on domestic water and 9% on electricity — increases among the steepest of the South African metros, and still lower than the 15% and 10.5% originally tabled.

The water figure compounds a problem rather than solving it: more than half the water the City buys never reaches a paying customer, so the tariff on those who do pay carries the losses. Practically, this means a Durban household budget should assume water is a rising cost, that a leak on your side of the meter is expensive to ignore, and that a lease should say in writing who is responsible for what.

Source: eThekwini Municipality 2026/27 budget and tariff schedule

Common mistakes to avoid

Working in shipping or offshore and claiming the ordinary R1.25 million exemption when the separate seafarer exemption may apply — or the reverse.
Drifting into tax residency through the physical-presence day count during repeated long stays on a warm coast.
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 eThekwini's tariff year starts in July.
Ignoring a leak on your side of the water meter — eThekwini's tariffs are among the country's steepest and the bill is yours from the meter inwards.

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