Sell South African Property as a Non-Resident and the Buyer Withholds Your Money
If you own property in South Africa and you are not a South African tax resident, there is a rule that decides how much of the sale price actually reaches you on transfer — and it operates whether or not you have heard of it.
The buyer is required to hold money back and send it to SARS.
The rates, and the threshold that switches them on
Where a non-resident disposes of immovable property in South Africa, the purchaser must withhold a percentage of the gross selling price:
| Seller is a | Withheld |
|---|---|
| Natural person | 7.5% |
| Company | 10% |
| Trust | 15% |
The obligation applies where the property is disposed of in excess of R2 million. SARS's own form instruction is explicit that the gross selling price field is completed "only if gross selling price exceeds R2 million".
Two things follow that people get wrong.
It is on the gross price, not the profit. The percentage is applied to what the property sells for, not to any gain you made. A seller who is barely ahead — or behind — on the purchase still has the full percentage withheld unless they have done something about it in advance.
It is the buyer's job. The money never reaches your account. It is withheld from what is payable to you and paid over to SARS, which is why the first time many sellers encounter this is on a statement of account from the conveyancer.
You can apply for less — but it takes 21 business days
This is the part that turns a cash-flow problem into an avoidable one.
A non-resident seller may apply for a directive that tax be withheld at a lower rate, or at zero. You do this on form NR03, submitted with the offer to purchase, a tax calculation and supporting documentation.
And then the number that governs everything:
The processing time for the Tax Directive application (NR02)/Return (NR03) is 21 business days
Twenty-one business days is a month of calendar time. A directive applied for when the conveyancer raises the question is a directive that arrives after transfer. If your gain is small, or you sold at a loss, or your South African taxable income is low, the money you get back by applying early is real — and the money you do not get back by applying late is equally real.
Start it when you accept the offer, not when the paperwork reaches the deeds office.
Buyers have a duty too
If you are purchasing from a non-resident, this is not somebody else's paperwork.
The guide splits the forms between the two sides. The seller submits the NR03 directive application. The purchaser, conveyancer or estate agent must complete and submit the NR02 — the declaration by the purchaser of a sale of immovable property by a non-resident.
And there is a checkpoint that catches it either way. When applying for the transfer duty receipt:
the conveyancer must select YES at the question 'Are the provisions of Section 35A of the Income Tax Act 1962 applicable?'
with the NR02 or NR03 uploaded alongside the deed of sale. The question is asked of every transfer, which means a non-resident sale is meant to be identified as a matter of routine rather than discovered late.
If you are buying, ask early whether the seller is a South African tax resident. It changes your conveyancer's obligations, and it is a much easier question before signature than after.
Withholding is not the end of the matter
A common assumption is that once the money has gone to SARS the seller is finished. The guide says otherwise:
When an amount is withheld from a Non-Resident Seller of Immovable Property, it is expected that the Non-Resident should submit a return. If a year passes without submitting a return SARS may regard the amount received/payment as a sufficient basis to raise an assessment.
Read that carefully. A return is expected. If none arrives within a year, SARS may treat the amount it received as a basis on which to assess you — an assessment built without the deductions, base cost or losses you would have put in the return yourself.
The withholding is a mechanism for collecting money at the point of transfer. It is not a substitute for filing.
What that is in rands
The percentage applies to the gross selling price, not to the amount above R2 million. SARS's own form has one field for "Gross selling price (only if gross selling price exceeds R2 million)" and the next for "Percentage on gross selling price" — so once you are over the threshold, the whole price is the base.
| Sale price | Individual (7.5%) | Company (10%) | Trust (15%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| R2,500,000 | R187,500 | R250,000 | R375,000 |
| R3,000,000 | R225,000 | R300,000 | R450,000 |
| R5,000,000 | R375,000 | R500,000 | R750,000 |
Those are the amounts that do not arrive on transfer day. If you were counting on the full proceeds to settle a bond, buy elsewhere, or move money before a date, the gap is the point of this page.
Note what the threshold does and does not do. It decides whether the withholding applies at all. It does not shelter the first R2 million once it does.
The signature that costs three weeks
A small procedural detail with a disproportionate cost. On the NR03, after the fields are completed:
the applicant is required to complete, print, and sign the declaration on the first page of the application form. Failure to do so will result in the application being rejected.
A rejected application is not a correction — it is a restart, and the clock on the next attempt is another 21 business days. On a transfer with a date in it, an unsigned form is the difference between a directive that arrives and one that does not.
The application goes with the offer to purchase, a tax calculation and supporting documents, by email to SARS's non-resident unit.
The order to do this in
- Establish tax residence before listing. The whole mechanism turns on whether the seller is a South African tax resident, and that is a question with a real answer rather than an assumption.
- If non-resident, decide immediately whether a directive is worth applying for. Sold at a loss, small gain, or low South African taxable income are the cases where it usually is.
- File the NR03 when you accept the offer. Twenty-one business days runs from a complete, signed application — not from when you first thought about it.
- Make sure the conveyancer has the NR02 or NR03 before the transfer duty receipt is applied for.
- File the return afterwards. The withholding does not close the year.
What this page does not cover
Whether a non-resident may buy South African property in the first place. We have not sourced that here and are not going to imply an answer.
Getting the proceeds out of the country. Moving sale proceeds abroad is an exchange control question, separate from the tax one above, and not sourced here.
The capital gains calculation itself — base cost, exclusions, the inclusion rate — is a different exercise from the withholding, and this page covers only the withholding.
Transfer duty, which the buyer pays, is a separate cost with its own sliding scale. We have a transfer costs calculator for that rather than a table here, and property price benchmarks by area.
About the source
Rates, the threshold, the forms and the 21-business-day turnaround come from SARS's page on non-resident sellers of immovable property and from the external guide IT-PP-02-G01, "Amounts to be Withheld When a Non-Resident Sells Immovable Property in South Africa", Revision 05, effective 3 September 2025.
Rates and thresholds change, and this is general information rather than tax advice. Confirm the current position with SARS or a tax practitioner before signing anything.
How does this affect YOUR Money OS?
If a South African property is part of your net worth and you are not a tax resident here, a meaningful slice of the sale price is committed at transfer unless you act weeks in advance. That belongs in the plan, not in the surprise.
FAQ
How much is withheld when a non-resident sells South African property? 7.5% of the gross selling price if the seller is a natural person, 10% for a company and 15% for a trust — where the property is disposed of in excess of R2 million.
Is the withholding calculated on my profit? No. It is a percentage of the gross selling price, not of any gain.
Can I have less withheld? Yes — a non-resident seller may apply on form NR03 for a directive to withhold at a lower rate or at zero, submitted with the offer to purchase, a tax calculation and supporting documents.
How long does that take? SARS gives the processing time as 21 business days, so it must be started well before transfer.
What does the buyer have to do? The purchaser, conveyancer or estate agent completes the NR02 declaration, and the conveyancer must answer YES to the section 35A question when applying for the transfer duty receipt, uploading the NR02 or NR03 with the deed of sale.
Do I still need to file a return? Yes. SARS expects a return, and states that if a year passes without one it may regard the amount received as a sufficient basis to raise an assessment.
Does this apply below R2 million? The withholding obligation is expressed as applying where the property is disposed of in excess of R2 million.
