This is how much tax a motorist with a low-income salary pays in South Africa

Motorists in South Africa who earn R10,000 lose roughly 10% of their take-home pay due to income and fuel taxes.

According to the South African Revenue Service (SARS), the 2027/2027 personal income tax threshold for individuals under 65 years is R99,000 per annum.

This equates to a salary of R8,250 per month. Anyone who earns more than this will be subject to Pay As You Earn (PAYE), which varies in accordance with South Africa’s progressive tax system.

The lowest PAYE tax rate is 18%, which increases to 45% for the country’s highest income earners.

For an individual who earns R10,000 per month, income tax only applies to the amount earned above the minimum threshold.

If their gross salary is R120,000 per year, the taxable portion of their income is R21,000.

With an 18% PAYE rate, they will pay R3,780 in personal income tax per year, which works out to R315 per month.

Additionally, a small percentage of their earnings (1%) will be put towards the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).

This adds another R100 to the R315 paid in income tax, meaning an individual earning this amount has a take-home salary of R9,585 per month after PAYE and UIF.

The true cost of fuel taxes

PAYE is not the only tax that motorists and commuters in South Africa have to worry about, as there are multiple fuel levies that make up a considerable portion of the retail price of petrol and diesel.

The single largest contributor is the General Fuel Levy (GFL), which adds R4.10 to the cost of both fuels.

The GFL was introduced in 1983 and was originally meant to fund the construction and maintenance of South Africa’s road network.

However, the funds are not ring-fenced and the revenue goes directly to the state’s general account.

Consequently, the government can use the GFL-generated funds as it sees fit, and the tax has become one of the state’s main revenue streams.

This is followed by the Road Accident Fund (RAF) Levy, which adds another R2.25 per litre to the cost of fuel.

This money is meant to be used by the RAF to compensate victims involved in vehicle-related accidents.

However, the state-owned entity has been severely mismanaged over the past decade and is technically insolvent with debts in the billions of rands.

While these are the two largest fuel taxes in South Africa, motorists also pay a Carbon Levy of R0.20 per litre, and a Customs and Excise Duty of R0.04 per litre.

Note that the GFL, RAF Levy, and Carbon Levy were recently increased by 9c, 5c, and 7c per litre, as outlined in the 2026 Budget Speech.

As a result, these taxes now collectively add R6.59 to the retail price of petrol in South Africa.

Following April’s fuel price adjustments, a litre of petrol 93 costs R22.46 at coastal rates.

This means that roughly 30% of the price motorists are paying at the pump is comprised of fuel taxes.

To get a sense of what this looks like in practice, low-income motorists will likely be driving an entry-level hatchback, such as a VW Polo Vivo.

A car like this typically has a fuel tank capacity of 45 litres, and most citizens refuel at least twice a month.

That works out to a monthly fuel bill of around R2,021.40, of which R606.42 is fuel tax.

Combined with PAYE and UIF, motorists earning R10,000 in South Africa are paying around R1,021.42 per month in income and fuel taxes – just over 10% of their gross salary.

Of course, individuals who earn this much may not even have a car to begin with, yet they would still spend a significant portion of their income on commuting.

Millions of South Africans rely on minibus taxis and other public transport services to get to and from work.

According to WesBank, the average commuter spends between R600 and R1,000 on taxi fares per month.

Since taxi operating costs are directly influenced by the price of fuel, South Africans are still spending a large portion of their wages on fuel taxes, one way or another.