Give your spouse a car, settle their bond, move an investment portfolio into their name, and no tax question arises. Currently, donations between spouses are exempt, with no cap and no limit on where either of you lives or what your South African tax residency status is. But this might change soon.
On 30 July 2026, National Treasury and SARS published the 2026 draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill for public comment. It proposes adding one condition to that exemption: the spouse receiving the donation would need to be a South African tax resident.
This is a draft. It is not law, it can still change, and public comments close on 28 August 2026. It is drafted to apply from 25 February 2026, so transfers already made this year are not necessarily settled.
How South African donations tax works
The person giving pays, not the person receiving. And only South African tax residents pay it, so the donor has to be a resident for any liability to arise at all.
The first R150,000 you donate in a tax year is exempt. That is a single annual allowance covering everything you give away that year, not an amount per person. It went up from R100,000 on 1 March 2026.
Above that, the rate is 20%, rising to 25% once your donations since 1 March 2018 pass R30 million.
Certain donations are exempt no matter how large. Gifts to approved public benefit organisations are one example. Gifts between spouses are another.
What would change
At the moment, the spousal exemption asks only whether you are married and not separated by court order or notarial deed. It does not ask where your spouse lives or what their tax status is.
The draft bill would add that question. If your spouse has ceased to be a South African tax resident, the unlimited exemption would fall away, and your donation would be treated like any other. The R150,000 annual exemption would still apply, and so would the 20% and 25% rates.
What it would cost
Say you transfer R5 million to a spouse who has already ceased tax residency. Assume you have made no other donations that year and your lifetime total is well under R30 million.
Today, nothing is payable.
Under the proposal, R150,000 is exempt, and the remaining R4,850,000 is taxed at 20%. That is R970,000, payable by you.
You would declare it to SARS and pay by the end of the month after the donation takes effect, through eFiling.
South African donations tax may not be the only tax
Three separate taxes can apply, and each answers a different question.
Donations tax asks whether the gift itself is exempt, which is the part the proposal would change. Capital gains tax in South Africa asks whether the transfer itself is a disposal, and under current law a transfer to a non-resident spouse can already trigger it, though assets that stay inside the South African tax net are treated differently.
Exit tax asks what happens when you cease tax residency, treating you as having sold certain worldwide assets the day before.
Each is assessed on its own terms. An answer on one tells you nothing about the other two.
Who Treasury says this is aimed at
Treasury’s stated purpose is narrow. The media statement accompanying the draft bills says the aim is to stop spouses deliberately staggering when they cease tax residence in order to avoid donations tax and capital gains tax.
Nothing in the proposal requires couples to cease residency on the same date, and Treasury has not suggested that. Tax residency is worked out separately for each person, and different timing is ordinary.
The drafting is broad, though. It asks one question about your spouse’s residency status, and it does not distinguish between a transfer made for tax reasons and one made for any other reason.
What to do
Comments close on 28 August 2026, after which the bill will be revised and go through Parliament in the usual way. Nothing has changed in law yet.
If you and your spouse have different tax residency positions, three things are worth doing now: confirm the date each of you ceased or will cease residency, list any transfers between you since 25 February 2026, and work out where you would stand under both the current law and the proposal.
FinGlobal has assisted South Africans abroad with ceasing tax residency in South Africa and cross-border financial matters since 2009.
This article is for general information and does not constitute tax, legal or financial advice. The 2026 draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill is a proposal and has not been enacted. The worked example is illustrative and assumes facts that may not match your own. Obtain advice specific to your position.
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