TFSA calculator
A tax free savings calculator for South Africa: what a TFSA grows to under your return assumption, the tax year you reach the R500 000 lifetime limit, and how much tax the same money would have paid in an ordinary account.
Statutory figures, 2026/27 tax year
Source: SARS, Tax Free Investments page and the Budget 2026 tax pocket guide, checked 4 September 2026. The annual limit rose from R36 000 to R46 000 on 1 March 2026. Edit these when SARS changes them.
You reach the R500 000 lifetime limit in year 14 (the 2040 tax year). Contributions stop there and the balance keeps compounding for the remaining 6 years.
TFSA against a taxable account
How this TFSA calculator works
South Africa’s tax free savings accounts have two hard limits set in the Income Tax Act. You may contribute R46 000 in a tax year (from 1 March 2026; it was R36 000 before) and R500 000 over your lifetime. Any amount over either limit is taxed at 40%, regardless of your income. Growth, interest and dividends do not count towards the limits, an unused allowance does not carry over, and money you withdraw does not restore the allowance you used.
The calculator enforces both. If your schedule exceeds the annual limit it caps the contribution and shows the excess and what SARS would charge on it. When the running total reaches R500 000 it stops contributing and marks the tax year, and the balance keeps compounding from there. At the full R46 000 a year the lifetime limit arrives in the eleventh tax year.
The tax saved figure runs the same contributions through an ordinary account. For shares or an ETF, the dividend portion of your return is taxed at 20% dividends tax each year and reinvested net, and the gain is taxed at your marginal rate on a 40% inclusion after the R50 000 annual exclusion, as if you sold at that point. Every point on the taxable line is therefore an after-tax value, which is the fair comparison because a TFSA can be withdrawn tax free at any point. For an interest account, interest above the R23 800 exemption is taxed at your marginal rate each year. The return you enter is your assumption in both accounts.
Every statutory figure is an editable input under the calculator with its source and date, so a mid-year change by SARS does not silently falsify the page. For the same contributions without the tax layer, the investment calculator adds fees, escalation and inflation instead. A TFSA can hold shares and ETFs as well as cash; TradeIntel’s JSE and US share screener runs about 600 shares through ten dividend, value, quality and momentum filters.
Questions
How long until I reach the R500 000 lifetime limit?
At the full R46 000 a year, R500 000 arrives in the eleventh tax year, with a final contribution of R40 000. At R3 000 a month it takes just under fourteen years.
Can I have more than one tax free savings account?
Yes. The limits apply to you, not to the account, so contributions to every TFSA you hold are added together. A second account does not give you a second allowance.
Does the calculator model the 40% tax on excess?
It shows you the excess and the tax on it, then caps the contribution at the limit in the projection. It never models an over contribution as if it were allowed.
Do withdrawals free up my allowance again?
No. Money you take out does not restore the allowance you used, and the lifetime limit counts every rand you ever put in. That is why the calculator treats the lifetime figure as a hard stop rather than a balance.
TradeIntel is an information publisher, not a licensed financial services provider. This calculator shows what the assumptions you entered produce. It is general information, not financial advice, and the return figure is your assumption, not ours. Nothing on this page is a forecast.