Here is how it usually goes. You have a strong year trading crypto, you file your return, and a few months later a SARS assessment lands with penalties and interest attached, for tax you were apparently meant to pay in instalments during the year. Nobody mentioned that you had become a provisional taxpayer. That is how most crypto traders find out what provisional tax is, and it is the expensive way to find out.
It catches people who never thought of themselves as running a business, just someone who got good at trading, or who earned a bit of staking yield on the side. You do not have to learn it that way. If you trade crypto often, or you earn crypto as income, there is a good chance you are already a provisional taxpayer whether you have thought of yourself as one or not. Here is what that means, when the deadlines actually fall, and how to put a number on the IRP6 that you can stand behind.
Who counts as a provisional taxpayer
Provisional tax is not a separate tax. It is a way of paying your normal income tax during the year, in instalments, instead of in one lump after year-end. You fall into it when you earn income that has no PAYE withheld from it by an employer, above fairly small thresholds. Trading profits and business income are the usual triggers.
Frequent buying and selling for short-term profit makes revenue treatment more likely. Revenue income without PAYE can bring you into provisional tax. Crypto earned through mining, staking, most airdrops, or payment for work can also count as income at its rand value on receipt.
A salaried person holding Bitcoin as a long-term investment may be in a different position. A capital gain alone does not usually make you provisional if you have little other untaxed income. The classification depends on your intention, trading frequency, holding period, and how you conduct the activity. The crypto tax guide explains the distinction.
How the payment cycle works
Individuals run on a tax year that ends at the end of February. Provisional tax spreads your payments across that year through the IRP6 return, which is where you file your estimate and pay against it.
Two rounds are compulsory and a third is optional.
- The first IRP6 falls due by 31 August, halfway through the year. You estimate your taxable income for the full year, work out the tax, and pay half of it.
- The second IRP6 is due by the last day of February, the year-end itself. You revise your full-year estimate and pay the balance owing on it.
- A third, optional payment comes at the end of September after year-end. It lets you pay a shortfall if your estimate was too low, and paying it can reduce the interest SARS charges on the shortfall.
The two compulsory payments are intended to cover most of your annual tax before you file your return. For the 2027 year of assessment, which runs from 1 March 2026 to 28 February 2027, the dates are:
| IRP6 round | Due |
|---|---|
| First payment, mid-year | 31 August 2026 |
| Second payment, year-end | End of February 2027 |
| Optional third payment | End of September 2027 |
Estimate your full-year taxable income
Estimate your full-year taxable income on the IRP6. Include salary, interest, rental and other income, as well as your crypto results.
In August, you need to estimate your trading results through to the end of February. Start with realised results to date. Open positions can change in value before year-end, so a current paper gain alone does not tell you what your final result will be.
Use your results to date and a reasonable estimate of the rest of the year. Keep the workings and assumptions behind that estimate. Deliberately understating it to reduce the payment can lead to penalties when SARS assesses your final income.
What getting it wrong costs
A late or missed provisional payment attracts a penalty of 10% of the unpaid amount.
If your final taxable income exceeds your estimate by enough to trigger the underestimation rules, SARS can also impose a penalty. Interest can apply to a shortfall. If you identify a shortfall after year-end, the optional September payment can reduce interest.
Provisional tax does not replace your ITR12
You must still submit your annual ITR12 after year-end. It reconciles your actual disposals, realised gains and losses, and crypto income with your provisional estimates. SARS credits your IRP6 payments against the final tax bill. An overpayment results in a refund, while an underpayment leaves a balance to settle.
For Filing Season 2026, provisional taxpayers have until 22 January 2027 to file. See declaring crypto on your ITR12 via eFiling for the filing steps.
Calculate your results before estimating
To prepare a mid-year estimate, work out your realised gains, crypto income, and fees since 1 March. Gather records from each exchange and wallet so that missing transactions do not distort the result.
Coinfig calculates gains and income from read-only connections to Luno, VALR, and Kraken, or CSV imports. Its completeness check flags missing history, unmatched transfers, and unexplained balance changes. You or your practitioner can use the year-to-date report and its assumptions when preparing the IRP6 estimate.
A full report for up to 100 transactions is free when you sign in through a trusted partner. Otherwise, reports start on Starter. Coinfig calculates and produces reports. It does not decide whether your activity is revenue or capital, provide tax advice, or file on your behalf.
Check your provisional taxpayer status before a payment falls due. Gather your transaction history so you can estimate from your recorded results.
This article is general information, not tax advice. Crypto tax outcomes depend on your specific circumstances. For complex situations, consult a qualified tax practitioner.