An expense is deductible if it was incurred in the production of your trade income and is not capital in nature: that is the core test in section 11(a) of the Income Tax Act. "Incurred" means legally owed, not necessarily paid yet. Private costs do not qualify, and capital items follow the wear-and-tear rules instead of an immediate write-off.
What a tradie can deduct
- Tools and small equipment. Items costing R7,000 or less each (excluding VAT if you are a VAT vendor) are written off 100% in the year of first use. Anything bigger is deducted over its useful life (see Wear-and-Tear Allowances). Keep the purchase invoices.
- Vehicle costs. Two routes: the SARS prescribed rate of R4.95 per business kilometre for 2026/27, or the actual-cost method with the business-use proportion of every rand of fuel, insurance, maintenance, licence and tyres. Both die without a logbook. The full comparison is in Travel Claims and Logbooks.
- Home office. South Africa has no fixed-rate home office allowance. You apportion actual costs: (area of the office / total area of the home) x eligible costs such as rent or bond interest, rates, electricity, water and insurance. The room must be used regularly and exclusively for the trade; a dining table does not qualify. Warning: claiming a home office can cost you part of your primary residence exclusion when you sell the house (see Capital Gains Tax Basics).
- Protective clothing. Deductible when it is not suitable for everyday wear: steel-cap boots, overalls, hi-vis, hard hats. Ordinary jeans and shirts are not.
- Training. Deductible when directly tied to the trade, like a plumber adding a gas certification. A personal-interest course is not.
- Business insurance. Public liability, tools-in-transit and professional indemnity premiums are fully deductible. Personal life and disability cover generally are not.
- Materials and subcontractors. Straightforward cost of sales. Keep invoices and proof of payment, especially from subbies.
- Bank charges and finance costs. Business account fees, and interest on borrowing used in the trade. Interest on personal debt is out.
- Phone and data. The business-use portion only. Keep records or apply a defensible split.
- Retirement annuity contributions. Deductible under section 11F, capped at 27.5% of income up to R430,000 a year (see Retirement Annuities and Tax).
What SARS commonly disallows
- Clothing that doubles as everyday wear
- Home office claims where the room is not exclusively used for trade
- Any vehicle claim without a logbook
- The commute from home to your regular site (private travel)
- Fines and penalties, of any kind
- Entertainment with no clear business purpose
- Capital work dressed up as repairs: patching a roof is a repair, replacing the roof is capital
Worked example
A tradie buys an R80,000 second-hand bakkie on 1 March 2026 and uses it 70% for business. A bakkie writes off over 5 years, so the annual allowance is R16,000, of which R11,200 is deductible at 70% business use. The same week they buy R5,000 of drill bits and blades, each item under R7,000: the full R5,000 is deductible immediately.
The difference matters at filing time: the small stuff hits this year's bill, the bakkie spreads over five. Plan big purchases with both rules in mind, and remember the deduction only survives a SARS query if the invoice does (see SARS Verification and Audit).
Common mistakes
- No logbook. The single most disallowed claim. No odometer readings, no deduction, full stop.
- Claiming 100% of a mixed-use phone or bakkie. SARS expects an honest business-use split.
- Binning receipts. Records must be kept for five years; a deduction without paper is a penalty waiting to happen.
- Claiming the home office without weighing the CGT cost on the eventual sale of the house.
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