CGT Annual Exclusion is R50,000: Updated Guide for Share Owners
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A client sells R48,000 worth of JSE shares and asks what they owe. Last year the answer was "a little". For 2027 the answer is nothing.
SARS published the updated Tax Guide for Share Owners (Issue 9) on 6 August 2026 focusing on the 2027 year of assessment.
CGT annual exclusion rises to R50,000 for the 2027 year of assessment
The annual exclusion is R50,000 for 2027, up from R40,000 for 2026. In the year a person dies it goes to R440,000, up from R300,000. The guide sources both figures from Table 4.6 of the Budget Review, 2026, and we set out the wider Budget picture in Budget 2026 Review: Growth, Relief and Reality.
Company effective CGT rate is 21.6%
Issue 9 states the effective CGT rate for a company as 21.6%, being the 27% corporate rate against the 80% inclusion rate, for years of assessment commencing on or after 1 April 2022. Issue 8 still carried 22.4% off the old 28% rate. Trusts other than special trusts remain at 36%.
Foreign dividend partial exemption for companies moves to 7/27
The partial exemption in section 10B(3) is 7/27 for companies for years of assessment ending on or after 31 March 2023, replacing 8/28. Individuals, deceased and insolvent estates and trusts stay on 25/45.
New contributed tax capital limits on returns of capital
The guide now flags the amendments effective 1 January 2023 that limit the transfer of contributed tax capital between classes of shares and the use of CTC to make disproportionate returns of capital to particular shareholders. If you advise an owner-managed company that has ever returned capital to one shareholder and not another, read paragraph 5.8.
Cape Town Stock Exchange, A2X and EESE now listed as recognised exchanges
The weighted average method is available for shares listed on a recognised exchange. Issue 9 names the Cape Town Stock Exchange, A2X Markets and Equity Express Securities Exchange alongside the JSE and the foreign exchanges.
What has not changed in the Tax Guide for Share Owners
The bones are the same. Section 9C still deems equity shares held for at least three years to be on capital account. Individuals still include 40%. Dividends tax is still 20% under section 64E(1). The capital versus revenue tests still turn on intention.
Where the planning money is for accountants in practice
Two spouses with modest portfolios could potentially realise up to R100,000 of net capital gains between them in 2027 before the annual exclusions give rise to a taxable capital gain. That is a planning conversation, and it is billable.
Watch the identification method. Once a client picks specific identification, first in first out or weighted average for the first listed share disposed of, that choice must then be used for the entire listed share portfolio until all the shares in that portfolio have been disposed of. Clients who invest through an employee share plan in mining or retail often hold two parallel portfolios and no idea the choice locks. For the underlying mechanics, Capital Gains Tax 101 works through the calculation with numbers.
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