The third provisional tax payment is an optional top-up you make after your tax year ends to close the gap between what you’ve already paid SARS and what you actually owe. For taxpayers with a February year-end, the deadline is 30 September, and the point of paying is simple: to stop Section 89quat interest from running on any shortfall before SARS issues your final assessment.1South African Revenue Service. Guide to Provisional Tax
When It’s Due and Why the Date Matters
The first two provisional payments are compulsory: one at the six-month mark of your tax year, and one at year-end. The third is voluntary and falls after the year closes. For individuals and entities with a February year-end, it’s due 30 September. Entities with a different financial year-end have seven months from that closing date.1South African Revenue Service. Guide to Provisional Tax
The date is not arbitrary. Under Section 89quat of the Income Tax Act, interest on any underpayment starts accruing from 1 October for February year-end taxpayers, and it runs until SARS issues your assessment. That can be months later if your return is queued for verification. The interest rate tracks the prescribed rate set under the Public Finance Management Act and shifts periodically.2South African Revenue Service. Interest Rates Table 2
The Section 89quat interest kicks in only if your taxable income exceeds R50,000 (R20,000 for a company) and your total provisional tax paid during the year fell short of your final assessed liability. If you earned a large commission in the final quarter, sold an asset at a gain, or received an unexpected dividend, your first two estimates were almost certainly too low. Paying the third amount before 30 September cuts the interest off at the source.
Who Actually Needs to Make One
You’re only in the provisional tax system if you carry on any business as a sole proprietor, earn income through a company or close corporation, or receive certain passive income above a threshold. Individuals who don’t run a business and whose combined income from interest, dividends, foreign dividends, and rental from fixed property stays at or below R30,000 for the tax year are exempt.1South African Revenue Service. Guide to Provisional Tax You’re also exempt if your total taxable income won’t exceed the tax threshold for your age.
For the 2026 tax year (1 March 2025 to 28 February 2026), the tax-free thresholds are R99,000 (under 65), R153,250 (65 to 74), and R171,300 (75 and older).3South African National Treasury. Budget 2026 Tax Guide Below the threshold, no tax is owed and no provisional payment applies.
If you are a provisional taxpayer and your first two payments already covered your final liability, you don’t need to make a third payment. The calculation below tells you which camp you’re in.
Calculating Your Top-Up
You need three numbers: your total taxable income for the full year, the amounts you paid on your first and second provisional returns, and any PAYE your employer withheld from your salary.1South African Revenue Service. Guide to Provisional Tax
Apply the tax rates for the relevant year to your total taxable income to get the gross tax.4South African Revenue Service. Rates of Tax for Individuals Then subtract the rebate for your age group. For the 2026 tax year, the primary rebate (all taxpayers) is R17,235, the secondary rebate (65 and older) is R9,444, and the tertiary rebate (75 and older) is R3,145. What’s left is your total normal tax liability for the year.
Now subtract everything you’ve already paid: first provisional payment, second provisional payment, and all PAYE. If the result is positive, that’s your top-up. If it’s zero or negative, no third payment is needed.
A Worked Example
Take a taxpayer under 65 with total taxable income of R450,000 for the 2027 tax year. The gross tax is R79,998 + 31% of (R450,000 − R383,100) = R79,998 + R20,739 = R100,737. Subtract the primary rebate of R17,235, and total tax liability is R83,502. If provisional payments plus PAYE already total R70,000, the top-up is R13,502. Paying that by 30 September stops interest from running on the shortfall.
What the Third Payment Fixes and What It Doesn’t
The third payment eliminates Section 89quat interest if you get the top-up right. It does not undo the separate 20% underestimation penalty that SARS can impose when your second provisional estimate was too low.5South African Revenue Service. Provisional Tax Webinar Presentation That penalty is tied to the accuracy of the second estimate, not the total amount eventually paid.
The accuracy bar depends on how much you earned. If your taxable income is R1 million or less, the penalty applies where your second estimate came in below 90% of your actual assessed taxable income. Above R1 million, the penalty applies where the estimate came in below 80%. The charge itself is 20% of the tax shortfall between what you should have estimated and what you actually declared, and it stacks on top of Section 89quat interest.
If you realize your second estimate was significantly off, still make the third payment for the full shortfall to limit interest, then speak with a tax practitioner about whether the underestimation penalty can be reduced or remitted through SARS dispute resolution.
Submitting and Paying on eFiling
You can submit the third provisional return through SARS eFiling, at a SARS branch, or by calling the taxpayer service line.1South African Revenue Service. Guide to Provisional Tax Most people use eFiling.
Request an IRP6 return for the third period. Enter your total taxable income for the year and the top-up amount. The system generates a Payment Advice with a unique 19-digit Payment Reference Number (PRN), which SARS uses to match your payment to your account.6South African Revenue Service. How to Find a Payment Reference Number (PRN) Use the PRN exactly as shown. Payments submitted with an incorrect reference may not be allocated properly.7South African Revenue Service. SARS Payment Rules External Guide
You have two payment routes. Initiate the payment directly through eFiling, which creates a transaction your banking app presents for authorization, and the bank sends immediate confirmation to SARS. Or make a manual EFT using the PRN as your reference. Either way, check your SARS statement of account a few business days later to confirm allocation.
If You Overpay
Overpaying isn’t a crisis. When SARS issues your final assessment and total provisional tax plus PAYE exceeds your actual liability, the excess becomes a credit and SARS must process the refund within 21 business days after completing the assessment. Verification or audit can delay that.
For provisional taxpayers, SARS pays interest on overpayments under Section 89quat(4), provided taxable income for the year exceeds R50,000 or the overpayment exceeds R10,000. That interest runs from the end of September (for February year-end taxpayers) until the refund is paid.2South African Revenue Service. Interest Rates Table 2 The rate on overpayments is typically lower than the rate on underpayments, so padding the payment is not a savings strategy. Aim for accuracy.