The South African figures a trader looks up rather than reads once: tax tables, rate history, licence categories and exchange costs. Every page is dated and every number is sourced.
These pages answer "what is the number" rather than "how does it work". Each one leads with a dated table, cites the body that publishes the figure (SARS, the Reserve Bank, the FSCA, the JSE, Statistics South Africa) and says what the table does not cover. Every table can be embedded or downloaded as CSV: see Webmaster Tools.
Tax & SARS: brackets, rebates, CGT inclusion rates and provisional tax deadlines. SARB & rates: every repo decision, prime, inflation and the exchange control allowances. FSCA & regulation: licence categories, the public register and what the FAIS Ombud can do. JSE & markets: trading hours, settlement, indices and every cost on a trade. Payments & banking: offshore transfers, fees and payment rails.
Where a figure has moved, the page is updated and its date moves with it. Where something is genuinely uncertain, the page says so instead of picking a number. How the figures are compiled and checked is set out in our data methodology.
The share of retail CFD accounts that lose money at nine well-known brokers, from their own 2026 disclosures.
R10,000 invested at the end of 1999 in the JSE, the S&P 500, gold or cash, valued in rand in 2026.
How much extra income tax South Africans paid in 2025/26 because brackets were not adjusted for inflation.
What a year of trading really costs six typical South African traders, in rand and as a share of the account.
What a South African property purchase costs on top of the price, for 20 prices from R500,000 to R30 million: transfer duty, the conveyancing fee on the 2026 guideline, Deeds Office fees, and bond registration costs on a 90% bond.
The SARS tables for lump sums at retirement, retrenchment and death (first R550,000 tax free) and for withdrawals on resignation (first R27,500), with the tax on 16 common amounts and how earlier lump sums reduce the tax-free portion.
PAYE on bonuses from R5,000 to R200,000 at six salary levels, with the net you receive and the effective rate on the bonus.
Monthly instalments on R500,000 to R5 million bonds at prime and around it, over 20, 25 and 30 years, with total interest paid and the income needed.
CGT on gains from R50,000 to R2 million at five income levels, after the R50,000 exclusion and 40% inclusion, with the effective rate and the rate by bracket.
Tax on savings pot withdrawals from R2,000 to R100,000 at five income levels, taxed at your marginal rate, with the amount that reaches your account.
Monthly PAYE, UIF and take-home pay for 25 salaries from R5,000 to R250,000 a month under the 2026/27 SARS tables, with the effect of retirement contributions and the over-65 rebates.
Every figure on the South African forex, CFD and crypto market that we could source, dated and linked to its primary document, plus the ones we could not confirm.
The personal income tax brackets, rebates and thresholds SARS applies for the 2026/27 year of assessment, with the two years before it for comparison.
The CGT inclusion rates, annual exclusion and effective rates that apply to individuals, companies and trusts in South Africa, with the exemptions that remove a gain entirely.
When the two IRP6 returns are due, how the required estimate is worked out, and what the underestimation and late payment penalties cost.
The 20% rate on South African dividends, the treaty rates that apply to foreign shares, and what a South African resident can and cannot reclaim.
When filing season opens and closes for individuals, provisional taxpayers and trusts, and how auto assessment changes what you have to do.
The annual and lifetime contribution limits on a South African tax-free savings account, what the 40% penalty applies to, and what may be held inside one.
How much you may deduct for retirement fund contributions in South Africa, the annual cap, and what happens to contributions above it.
How the savings, retirement and vested components work, what may be withdrawn each year, and how a withdrawal is taxed.
The rates SARS charges on late tax and pays on overpayments, the official rate of interest for fringe benefits, and where each one applies.
The per-kilometre rate, the deemed cost tables and the daily subsistence amounts SARS accepts without receipts.
The VAT rate, the compulsory and voluntary registration thresholds after the 2026 increase, what is zero-rated and what is exempt.
The corporate rate, the small business corporation sliding scale, turnover tax, and what each means for a trading company.
The flat trust rate, the conduit principle, attribution rules and what a trust costs compared with holding an investment personally.
The estate duty abatement and rates, the donations tax exemption after its 2026 increase, and how the two interact.
The annual interest exemption by age, how foreign dividends are partly exempt, and what is left taxable after each.
What an employer withholds and contributes in South Africa: PAYE, the UIF ceiling, the skills development levy and the filing deadlines.
The transfer duty sliding scale after the 2026 adjustment, when VAT applies instead, and the capital gains position on a primary residence.
Every South African Reserve Bank repo rate decision with the date it took effect and the reasoning the MPC gave, from the 2020 cutting cycle to the current level.
The South African prime lending rate over time, the fixed spread that ties it to the repo rate, and what it prices in practice.
Headline consumer price inflation in South Africa month by month, against the Reserve Bank's target, with the core measure that strips out food and fuel.
When the Monetary Policy Committee meets, how the announcement is made, and what to expect from the statement and the vote split.
The single discretionary allowance and the foreign investment allowance, what each covers, what clearance each needs and how the limits have changed.
USD/ZAR, EUR/ZAR and GBP/ZAR at each year end since 2000, with what moved the rand in each period.
The benchmark government bonds, what each one yields, how the curve is shaped and what the spread over US Treasuries says about risk.
Annual real GDP growth since 2000, the sectors that drive it, and how a growth print feeds through to the rand and the JSE.
The official and expanded unemployment rates since 2000, the difference between the two measures, and why the gap matters.
The benchmark rates South African lending is priced off, what each measures, and the transition from JIBAR to ZARONIA.
How the three main agencies have rated South African debt since 2000, when each downgrade came and what moved on the day.
What makes up the pump price in South Africa, the general fuel levy and RAF levy for 2026, and how the price is set each month.
Gross debt as a share of GDP, the budget deficit, debt service costs, and how the trajectory has moved over two decades.
Gross and net reserves, what the Gold and Foreign Exchange Contingency Reserve Account holds, and why the Bank does not defend the rand.
The current account balance over time, what drives it, and why a deficit matters for the rand.
What each FSCA financial services provider category permits, which one a forex or CFD broker needs, and why the category matters more than the FSP number.
Where the FSCA public register lives, what each field on a licence record means, and the specific things that should stop you opening an account.
The acts that govern trading, brokers and client money in South Africa, what each one does and which regulator enforces it.
Who can complain to the FAIS Ombud, what the office can award, how long it takes and what falls outside its reach.
What the FSCA can impose, how debarment works, the size of recent penalties, and where enforcement outcomes are published.
How crypto assets are licensed and taxed in South Africa, which regulator covers what, and what a platform must hold to operate here legally.
What documents a broker must collect under FICA, how long verification takes, and what triggers a suspicious transaction report.
Which ombudsman handles which kind of complaint, what each can award, and how the new single ombud scheme changes it.
What the Tribunal reviews, who can apply, the time limits, and what it can and cannot change about an FSCA decision.
What the Prudential Authority regulates, how it differs from the FSCA, and where a bank or insurer sits between the two.
What POPIA requires of a broker, what rights you have over your own data, and how it interacts with FICA record keeping.
What a debarment means, how long it lasts, how to search the register, and why it attaches to the person rather than the firm.
When the JSE opens, closes and runs its auctions in South African time, and the public holidays on which the exchange does not trade.
How long a JSE trade takes to settle, who does the settling, and when the shares and the money actually change hands.
What each JSE index measures, how constituents are chosen and weighted, and why the Top 40 and the All Share move so closely together.
Every cost on a JSE share trade, which side pays it, and what a round trip needs to move before it breaks even.
Which JSE shares trade the most, what liquidity does to the spread you actually pay, and how to read volume before taking a position.
How JSE-listed companies are classified, which sectors carry the most index weight, and what drives each one.
The main exchange traded funds listed on the JSE, what each tracks, typical total expense ratios and how they are taxed.
When each forex session opens and closes in South African time, where they overlap, and which pairs are liquid in each window.
Typical leverage offered on each instrument class, what margin that implies, and how South African limits compare with other jurisdictions.
What a company needs to list on the Main Board or AltX, the ongoing obligations, and what each board means for an investor.
The equity derivatives listed on the JSE, contract specifications, margining and how they differ from an over-the-counter CFD.
The grain and oilseed contracts traded on the JSE, how the price is formed, and why South African maize does not simply follow Chicago.
How the South African bond market is structured, who trades in it, settlement conventions and how a retail investor gets exposure.
Standard, raw spread, Islamic and demo accounts compared on cost, minimum deposit and who each suits.
When the major exchanges open and close in South African time, the holidays that close them, and what thin liquidity does to a position.
Trading, instant-buy, deposit and withdrawal fees at the five exchanges South Africans use most (Luno, VALR, Binance, AltCoinTrader, Ovex) and what each costs on a R10,000 and a R100,000 trade, checked October 2026.
The AIT process step by step, when a TCS PIN is needed, what SARS asks for and how long each stage takes before your bank will release funds.
Bank margins against specialist providers, SWIFT and correspondent fees, and what a transfer to a trading account really costs once the spread is counted.
Every domestic payment rail in South Africa compared on speed, cost and limits, including PayShap, RTC and ordinary EFT.
Typical monthly fees, transaction charges and international transfer costs at the major South African banks, and what drives the difference.
What SWIFT is and is not, how a correspondent chain works, why money can arrive short, and what OUR, SHA and BEN mean on a transfer instruction.
Which methods South African brokers accept, how long each takes, what they cost, and the rules that decide where a withdrawal may be paid.
What the Financial Surveillance Department approves, the thresholds that trigger it, how long it takes and what an authorised dealer can do without it.
Transactional, savings, foreign currency, non-resident and business accounts compared on what each may hold and who may open one.
What a South African card costs on a foreign transaction, how dynamic currency conversion works against you, and when a card beats a transfer.
What changes to your South African accounts when you cease tax residency, what you may still hold, and how funds leave afterwards.
When a card payment can be reversed, the time limits, what a disputed EFT can and cannot do, and where to complain when a payment goes wrong.
How stablecoin transfers compare with banking rails on cost and speed, what exchange control says about them, and how SARS treats each step.