What is estate duty in South Africa?

A 20% tax (25% above R30 million) on the dutiable value of a deceased person's estate, levied on the executor and paid before estate distribution.

What is the section 4A estate duty abatement?

R3.5 million per estate. For surviving spouses, any unused portion of the first-dying spouse's abatement rolls over, giving the second-dying spouse up to R7 million tax-free.

Are bequests to a spouse taxable?

No — section 4(q) of the Estate Duty Act exempts all property bequeathed to a surviving spouse from estate duty. CGT is also rolled over.

When is estate duty due?

Within one year of the date of death, or 30 days from assessment if later. Late payment attracts 6% interest.

Estate duty in South Africa · invoicebook.co.za

What it is

Estate duty is a tax on the value a deceased person leaves behind. The Estate Duty Act applies to every SA tax resident at the date of death, plus to South African assets owned by non-residents. The Master of the High Court appoints an executor who works out the dutiable amount and pays the duty from the estate before distribution to heirs.

The rates

20% on the dutiable amount up to R30 million.
25% on the portion above R30 million.

Dutiable amount = gross property in the estate, less allowable deductions, less the R3.5 million basic abatement. Everyone gets the R3.5m abatement once.

The spouse rollover

Section 4A of the Act lets any unused portion of the first-dying spouse's R3.5m abatement roll over to the surviving spouse. Practical effect: when the second spouse dies, their estate gets up to R7 million of abatement (their own R3.5m plus the unused portion of the first spouse's, capped at R3.5m). Combined with the unlimited spousal bequest deduction (see below), this is the single biggest planning lever for married couples.

What's excluded / deductible

Several deductions reduce the dutiable amount before the abatement is applied:

Everything bequeathed to a surviving spouse — unlimited section 4(q) deduction.
Property bequeathed to approved public-benefit organisations.
Debts of the deceased at the date of death.
Funeral and deathbed expenses.
Retirement-fund lump sums paid directly to dependants (treated separately, not in the estate).
Proceeds of life-insurance policies payable directly to a spouse or dependant under the Long-term Insurance Act.

Don't forget CGT on death

Death is a deemed disposal event for Capital Gains Tax. The deceased is deemed to have disposed of all their assets at market value immediately before death, triggering CGT in their final tax return. The annual exclusion jumps to R440,000 in the year of death (instead of R50,000), which partly offsets the hit. Assets bequeathed to a surviving spouse roll over at base cost — no CGT until the surviving spouse eventually disposes.

A worked example

Estate valued at R12m. Deceased leaves R4m to their surviving spouse and R8m to their children. The R4m to the spouse falls out under section 4(q) entirely. Dutiable: R8m − R3.5m abatement = R4.5m. Estate duty = R4.5m × 20% = R900,000. CGT is calculated separately in the deceased's final ITR12 based on unrealised gains at date of death.

Practical notes

Estate duty is paid by the executor within one year of the grant of letters of executorship (or the letter of authority for small estates), otherwise interest accrues. The first R3.5m can be sheltered by basic planning; the spouse rollover pushes effective household abatement to R7m. Beyond that, you need a will, trust structures, or life-policy strategies crafted with a fiduciary specialist — this calc tool can only sketch the shape.