Deductions only work if you claim them
SARS is not going to remind you that you qualify for a deduction. Every one of the deductions below needs to be actively claimed on your tax return, usually with supporting documents, and every year people leave real money behind simply because they did not know a claim existed or could not find the paperwork when it mattered.
If you were auto-assessed, you may have accepted the gaps
SARS issued auto-assessments between 1 and 12 July 2026, built from what third parties reported: your IRP5, your medical scheme, your retirement annuity provider, your bank. If you agreed with the outcome, or simply did nothing, that became your assessment. The catch is that an auto-assessment can only include what somebody else reported. Out-of-pocket medical costs, Section 18A donations and home office expenses are not reported to SARS by anyone, which makes them exactly the claims an auto-assessment leaves out. You can still amend and submit the return yourself, and for non-provisional taxpayers that window closes on 23 October 2026.
Retirement contributions outside your salary deduction
If your employer already deducts pension contributions from your payslip, that part is usually accounted for automatically. But if you also contribute to a separate retirement annuity out of your own pocket, that RA contribution is a separate deduction you have to claim yourself. The combined limit across all your retirement funds, RA, pension and provident, is 27.5% of the greater of your remuneration or your taxable income, up to a rand ceiling. Check which year you are filing for, because the ceiling moved: it is R350,000 for the tax year that ended 28 February 2026, the return most people are submitting right now, and it rises to R430,000 for the year that started on 1 March 2026. Missing this claim is one of the most common, and most expensive, oversights on an individual tax return.
Medical expenses beyond your medical aid contributions
Most people know their medical aid contributions earn a monthly tax credit, and for employees it is usually applied through payroll. Fewer people know that out-of-pocket medical costs not covered by your scheme, things like dental work, glasses, physiotherapy or a specialist's excess, can also count toward an additional medical expenses tax credit. If you are under 65 and not claiming for a disability, only the portion of those costs above 7.5% of your taxable income counts, and you get 25% of that excess back as a credit. That threshold is high, which is why most people never bother, but if you had a heavy medical year it is worth gathering the receipts before you file.
Donations to registered charities
Donations to a public benefit organisation with valid Section 18A status are deductible up to 10% of your taxable income, but only if you keep the Section 18A certificate the organisation issues you. Cash given without that certificate cannot be claimed, so if you are donating regularly, ask for the certificate every time, not just at year end when the paper trail has gone cold. If you gave more than 10% of your taxable income, the excess is not wasted either: it carries forward and is treated as a donation made in the following tax year.
Home office costs, for the right kind of remote worker
A home office deduction is real but narrower than most people assume. The test is not what your employment contract says, it is what you actually did. You need a room that is used regularly and exclusively for work, specifically equipped for it, and you must have performed more than half of your duties there during the tax year. A spare corner of the lounge you also use to watch television does not qualify. If you do meet the criteria, a portion of rent, rates and utilities proportional to the floor area of that room can be claimed. Commission earners who make most of their income from commission have wider scope to claim than pure salary earners do.
Keeping the proof, not just the intention
Every deduction above has one thing in common: SARS wants a document, not your memory of what happened. A certificate, a receipt, a contribution statement. The single best habit for tax season is not a once-a-year scramble, it is tracking these costs as they happen throughout the year, in the same place you already track your budget, so nothing gets lost between March and the following February.
Quick answers
Do I need to submit proof with my tax return, or just keep it?
You keep the documents rather than send them in, but SARS can request them for verification, so hold on to everything for five years from the date you submit the return.
Can I claim a deduction I forgot in a previous tax year?
You can submit a Request for Correction through SARS eFiling on a return that has already been assessed, but it is not available in every situation and it gets harder the longer you leave it. Claiming correctly the first time is far simpler than fixing it retroactively.
Does a home office deduction apply to a normal salaried employee working from home a few days a week?
Usually not. If you are in the office two or three days a week then you have not performed more than half your duties at home, and that single requirement rules out most hybrid arrangements.
Where Budget Hub fits in
Budget Hub is not a tax filing tool and will not submit anything to SARS on your behalf. What it does well is give every one of these deductible costs, medical expenses, retirement contributions, a home office proportion of your rent, its own category throughout the year, so that when tax season arrives you are pulling numbers from a running record instead of reconstructing twelve months from memory and a shoebox of slips. See how proper budget categories make this kind of record-keeping close to automatic, and if the retirement annuity section got you thinking, starting with R500 a month is a reasonable place to begin.