The party responsible for paying the transfer duty is typically the buyer of the property. It is the buyer's responsibility to cover this tax as part of the property purchase process.
The amount of transfer duty payable is calculated based on the purchase price of the property and is determined according to a sliding scale provided by the South African Revenue Service (SARS). The higher the purchase price, the higher the transfer duty rate applied.
It's important for buyers to budget for transfer duty costs when considering purchasing a property, as this is an additional expense on top of the purchase price and other associated costs like legal fees and conveyancing charges. The transferring attorney or conveyancer handling the property transfer process will assist in calculating and collecting the transfer duty on behalf of the buyer and then submit it to SARS.