Income tax and provisional tax for South Africans who work out their own — freelancers, contractors, landlords and anyone whose tax PAYE doesn't settle. See what to pay at each deadline, model a deduction before you spend it, and catch underestimation risk early. On your Android phone, with your figures kept there.
Most provisional taxpayers only think about SARS twice — and both times it is already too late to change the number. InspiredTax runs the year in the background.
1 March to the last day of February · provisional cycle for individuals
Four screens do the work of a spreadsheet, an accountant's email thread and a very bad February.
One figure, updated every time you add income or a deduction: what you will owe SARS if the year ended today. No month-end reconciliation, no waiting for an assessment.
Retainers, once-off projects, royalties, rental, interest. Each source carries its own treatment, so the estimate holds up when SARS asks how you arrived at it.
Ten deduction areas, on this year's SARS tables. Move a number and watch the liability move with it — before the money leaves your account, not after.
The paragraph 20 test, the basic amount comparison and the 90% band, checked against your live estimate. You find out you are short in October, not in an assessment two years later.
Two South African freelancers bill R862,000. One captures deductions as they happen and tops up retirement before year-end. The other files in February with whatever the bank statement says.
Worked on 2026/27 rates, primary rebate and medical scheme credits for two members. Illustrative — your figures will differ.
First and second payment estimates on this year's SARS tables, ready to capture on eFiling.
From s11F retirement to home office floor area and wear-and-tear schedules.
Paragraph 20 exposure and audit-risk warnings surfaced months before you file.
Figures never leave the phone. Encrypted with a key made from your PIN; no server.
Three of the app's calculators, rebuilt for the browser on 2026/27 SARS parameters. Everything computes on your machine — nothing is submitted anywhere.
Work out the deductible portion of rent, rates, electricity and repairs using the floor-area ratio SARS actually accepts.
Open calculator →Monthly scheme credits for you and your dependants, plus the out-of-pocket relief most people forget to claim.
Open calculator →How much you can still contribute this tax year, what it saves you, and where the cap starts biting.
Open calculator →Tax software usually asks you to upload your entire financial life to somebody's cloud. InspiredTax does the opposite: the calculation engine ships with the app, and your figures never have anywhere to go.
You unlock the app with your PIN. Calculations work in aeroplane mode; only starting the free trial and buying a plan need a connection.
Everything you capture is encrypted on the phone with a key made from your PIN. The app locks itself after 5 minutes.
Export an encrypted backup, a CSV or your ITR12 figures whenever you want. Delete the profile or uninstall and it's gone from the phone.
The app asks only for internet access, for Google Play and the trial sign-in. No ads, no analytics. Read the privacy statement.
Provisional tax mechanics, deduction rules and SARS practice — in plain language, with the numbers that actually apply this year.
The legal, SARS-compliant levers — retirement contributions, home office, timing — ranked by what they actually return.
Every deduction a South African freelancer can legally claim, with the documentation SARS expects behind each one.
Two calculation methods, the logbook SARS will accept, and the apportionment mistakes that trigger a query.
IRP6 deadlines, how to estimate income you have not earned yet, and squeezing the full 27.5% out of s11F.
Where the 90% and basic-amount tests bite, and how a 20% underestimation penalty is calculated on the shortfall.
What POPIA actually requires, what "encrypted in transit" leaves out, and why local-only changes the risk profile.
Period 1 is due by 31 August, halfway through the tax year. Period 2 is due by the last day of February. An optional third top-up payment can be made within six months after year-end — by 30 September — to stop interest running on a shortfall.
Yes. The tax engine and the SARS tables ship inside the app, so every calculation works with no connection. Starting the free trial and buying a plan need one. There is no InspiredTax account and no server-side copy of your figures.
Paragraph 20 of the Fourth Schedule lets SARS charge up to 20% of the shortfall where your second-period estimate falls below the required threshold of your actual taxable income. The app checks your live estimate against that threshold continuously, so a shortfall is something you fix in October rather than discover in an assessment.
Section 11F allows up to 27.5% of the greater of remuneration or taxable income, capped at R430,000 per tax year. Contributions above the cap are not lost — they roll forward. The s11F calculator shows your remaining headroom.
Many people will. InspiredTax is a planning and estimation tool, not a filing service and not tax advice — it makes sure that when you or your accountant sit down to file, the number is already known and defensible. Export the ITR12 figures or a CSV and hand them over.
Salary, PAYE and retirement are free. Try everything else free for 7 days — no payment details, and the trial doesn't turn into a paid plan.
InspiredTax is in a closed test on Google Play. The link above explains how to get an invite or install it.