I need to understand transfer duty and bond costs. What documents should I prepare before speaking to a lawyer?

How to use this guide

Do not give the reviewer a pile of screenshots without provenance. Mark where each document came from, when it was issued, whether it is the operative version and which disputed amount it supports.

Contract and property records

Start with the offer to purchase or deed of sale signed by all parties. Add every annexure and later amendment. Highlight the purchase price, last signature date, deposit, suspensive conditions, finance terms, occupation, guarantees, cost allocation and clauses dealing with breach or cancellation.

Include the property description and any available title information. If a valuation or other figure differs from the purchase price, preserve the original report or communication explaining it. SARS filing can require consideration and fair-value information; a typed number in a spreadsheet is not its own evidence.

Identity, capacity and authority

For individuals, retain the identity, marital-status and address records requested by the appointed professionals. For a company, close corporation or trust, include current registration or trust documents, resolutions, representative authority and beneficial-ownership material supplied for the transaction.

Do not email an uncontrolled bundle of identity documents to several recipients. Ask the responsible firm for its secure delivery channel and provide only what the mandate and compliance process require. The property transfer checklist helps organise these records by stage.

Tax calculation material

Bring the transfer-duty calculation or declaration, the acquisition date used, the property value or consideration and the relevant SARS rate table. If the transaction is said to be VAT-bearing or exempt, add the written basis and supporting records rather than relying on the label alone.

Where SARS requested documents or raised a query, include the complete request, upload record and response. Preserve the transfer-duty receipt or exemption outcome when issued. These records show both the calculation and the procedural status.

Finance and bond documents

Include the loan application outcome, approval conditions, pre-agreement statement and quotation, final bond amount, valuation information supplied by the lender, guarantees and correspondence about cash contributions. Separate the lender's charges from the bond attorney's legal account.

Bring every version of the bond-registration estimate. A changed loan amount can alter the professional and Deeds Office calculations. Note which version matches the final approval and whether the bank funds any legal or ancillary costs.

Transfer and bond legal accounts

Keep the transferring attorney's dated estimate, the bond attorney's estimate, later revisions and final invoices. Each record should make professional fees, VAT, registry charges and disbursements identifiable. The buyer cost guide gives names to the principal categories.

If you are querying a changed total, create a short variance table: old amount, new amount, date, stated reason and supporting document. Do not overwrite the earlier quote. A reviewer needs the sequence to decide whether the change follows a new fact, schedule or instruction.

Add a calculation-input sheet

Prepare one page listing the acquisition date used, consideration, property value, tax classification, exemption basis if any, final loan amount, purchase balance and date of each professional estimate. Beside every entry, cite the agreement clause, lender document, valuation, SARS record or quotation that supports it. Mark any figure that is still provisional.

This sheet lets the reviewer see whether the same transaction facts were used consistently across the tax, transfer and bond calculations. It also reveals a common source of confusion: an estimate may have been prepared before the final bond approval or before an addendum changed a relevant value. Do not “correct” the underlying documents; record the discrepancy and ask which input legally controls the affected calculation.

Attach the official rate table or schedule actually relied on, with its effective date visible. A current table cannot simply be substituted into an acquisition governed by a different date without checking the applicable rule.

Payment and reconciliation evidence

For each payment, retain the request, matter reference, independently verified bank details, proof of payment and receipt or trust allocation. Keep any refund notice and final reconciliation. If a suspicious email changed the account, preserve it in its original form and record the trusted contact used to verify the discrepancy.

Include instructions and proof of authorisation

Bring the engagement or mandate letters, named matter contacts and any written approval for additional work or external expenditure. If another person signed or paid for the buyer, include the authority and payment explanation supplied to the appointed firm. This helps the reviewer distinguish the party liable under a transaction document from a person who merely transferred funds.

For every requested payment, pair the invoice with the verification note and allocation confirmation. Do not rely on a bank statement alone, because it proves movement of money without necessarily proving that the correct matter or cost line received it. Where money remains an advance, identify the event that will turn it into an actual charge or trigger a refund calculation.

Use a missing-document register for anything not yet available, including the custodian, request date and effect on the answer sought. A lawyer can often begin with an identified gap; an unlabelled omission may instead lead to an incorrect assumption.

The conveyancing glossary explains the registration function, but the appointed transaction records establish what was actually done and charged. If a dispute may require independent advice, the lawyer directory can support provider discovery without deciding the merits.

Prepare a one-page index

List each document, its date, issuer, version and purpose. Add a concise question beside every amount you cannot reconcile. Useful questions include whether the correct acquisition date was used, why a higher value applies, which tariff version governs, whether VAT is included, what the lender funds, and when a provisional advance becomes final.

This pack does not prove that a charge is correct or incorrect. It gives a property lawyer or conveyancer the material needed to trace the calculation, identify missing authority and answer the cost question without reconstructing the transaction from memory.

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