National Treasury and SARS published the 2026 draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill and the 2026 draft Tax Administration Laws Amendment Bill on 30 July for public comment. The headline change is that the donations tax exemption between spouses would apply only where the receiving spouse is a South African tax resident.
The bill also swaps the anti-profit-shifting rule for the arm's length principle on Special Economic Zone transactions, and extends medical scheme fees tax credits to restricted schemes. Comments close on 28 August.
Interesting insights on 2026 draft tax bills
Clause 17 of the draft TLAB amends section 56(1)(a) and (b) of the Income Tax Act, and it is proposed to apply from 25 February 2026, meaning it is backdated to Budget day. Donations tax runs at 20% on cumulative donations up to R30m and 25% above that, so this is not a rounding error for the families it catches.
Treasury's explanatory memorandum says the target is narrow: couples staggering when each spouse ceases tax residence so that wealth moves offshore untaxed. On the SEZ side, arm's length pricing now applies to domestic transactions between companies on the 15% corporate rate and related companies outside the zone.
What others are saying about 2026 draft tax bills
BusinessTech reported the changes and the August comment deadline. Polity adds that the recipient spouse's residence becomes the decisive test, while National Treasury confirms the bills carry the proposals made in the February Budget.
Backdating is the bit to watch
The spousal change is defensible policy going after a genuinely artificial arrangement. The effective date is the problem. Anyone who structured a transfer since February did so under the law as it stood and now waits to find out whether it holds.
That is a bad habit for Treasury to keep, because retrospective tax proposals are exactly what makes people plan around the country rather than in it. Founders should care more about the quieter SEZ line: a 15% rate that now carries transfer pricing documentation is a cheaper rate with a real compliance bill attached.
Four weeks to comment is not long, so if that rate sits in your model, say something before 28 August.
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