Provident Fund Withdrawal Calculator South Africa
See exactly what you'll be paid out if you resign and cash out your provident fund — tax calculated under SARS's withdrawal lump sum table, not the more generous retirement table.
Cashing out a provident fund on resignation is taxed under the withdrawal lump sum table: the first R27,500 is tax-free for life, then 18%, 27% and 36% apply on higher amounts. This is far harsher than the R550,000 tax-free threshold used for retirement or retrenchment — one reason preserving your fund when you change jobs is almost always the better choice (2026/2027 SARS rules).
If you've resigned, been dismissed, or your contract has ended and you're wondering what your provident fund is actually worth in your pocket, this calculator gives you the real number. Enter what's been going into the fund each month and how long you were a member, and it projects your fund value and applies SARS's withdrawal lump sum tax table — the specific, harsher table that applies when you cash out before retirement.
💸 Withdrawal Details
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How to Use This Calculator
Enter your monthly contribution
Enter the total monthly amount going into your fund — your contribution plus your employer's combined.
Enter months contributed
Enter how many months you were a member of the fund before leaving.
Select your reason for leaving
Resignation, dismissal, contract ending, emigration and divorce settlements use the withdrawal table. Retrenchment uses a different, more generous table.
Fund value is projected
The calculator compounds your contributions at an assumed annual return to estimate your fund value at the point of withdrawal.
Tax and net payout are calculated
Tax is calculated under the withdrawal lump sum table — the first R27,500 tax-free, then rising rates — showing your net payout and what preserving the fund instead would be worth.
What Counts as a Provident Fund Withdrawal
A withdrawal benefit is what your fund pays out when you leave employment before retirement age and choose to take the money in cash rather than transfer it. It applies whether you resign, are dismissed, reach the end of a fixed-term contract, emigrate for tax purposes, or receive a divorce settlement allocation. SARS reports this on your IRP5 under code 3920. It's a distinct event from a savings-pot withdrawal under the two-pot system (which is taxed at your marginal rate, not this table) and from a retrenchment payout (which gets a far more generous table — see below).
The Withdrawal Lump Sum Tax Table
Withdrawal benefits are taxed on a sliding scale, applied to your cumulative lifetime withdrawals:
| Cumulative Withdrawal Amount | Tax |
|---|---|
| R0 – R27,500 | 0% |
| R27,501 – R726,000 | 18% of the amount above R27,500 |
| R726,001 – R1,089,000 | R125,730 + 27% of the amount above R726,000 |
| Above R1,089,000 | R223,740 + 36% of the amount above R1,089,000 |
The R27,500 threshold is a lifetime limit, shared across every withdrawal and retirement lump sum you ever receive from any pension, provident or retirement annuity fund — not a fresh allowance each time you change jobs.
Why This Table Is Harsher Than the Retirement Table
Retirement and retrenchment lump sums use a different, far more generous table — the first R550,000 is tax-free, not R27,500. This gap is deliberate: SARS wants to discourage cashing out retirement savings mid-career, while treating a genuine retirement or an involuntary retrenchment more leniently. If you were retrenched rather than resigning, use our Retrenchment Calculator instead — it applies the correct R550,000 threshold and calculates your BCEA severance pay alongside it.
Worked Example — R4,500/Month for 3 Years
An employee contributes R4,500/month combined (employee + employer) to their provident fund for 36 months before resigning, with an assumed 8% annual return and no prior withdrawals.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Total contributions (R4,500 × 36 months) | R 162,000 |
| Investment growth (8% p.a.) | R 20,410 |
| Fund value at withdrawal | R 182,410 |
| Withdrawal tax (18% of the amount above R27,500) | R 27,884 |
| Net payout | R 154,526 |
If that same R182,410 were preserved and left to grow for another 20 years at the same 8% return instead of being cashed out, it would be worth approximately R898,700 — nearly six times the net amount received today. This is the real cost of cashing out early: not just the R27,884 in tax, but every year of compound growth given up on top of it.
Small Balances Are Often Tax-Free
Not every withdrawal owes tax. An employee contributing R280/month for 12 months accumulates roughly R3,486 including growth — well under the R27,500 threshold, so the full amount is paid out with no tax at all. Someone contributing R1,312.50/month for 16 months accumulates around R22,083, still under the threshold. Short-tenure withdrawals frequently owe nothing — use the calculator above to check your own numbers rather than assuming tax applies.
Preserving Beats Cashing Out
Transferring your fund to a preservation fund, or to your new employer's retirement fund, is completely tax-free and does not trigger code 3920 at all — it's a fund-to-fund transfer, not a payment to you. It keeps your R27,500 lifetime allowance intact for a genuine future need, and avoids losing years of compound growth. Preservation is almost always the financially stronger choice, even when a cash withdrawal feels tempting during a job change. See our Provident Fund South Africa guide for the full two-pot system and preservation rules.