Quick answer
Your next step depends on the document in front of you. If you only have an online estimate, obtain transaction-specific written figures. If you have signed the sale, verify the acquisition date, purchase price, tax treatment and final bond amount. If a firm has requested payment, reconcile the request and authenticate its bank details. If registration has occurred, ask for the final account rather than treating the estimate as the last word.
How to use this guide
Do not merge transfer duty, transfer legal fees and bond-registration costs. They have different payees, legal bases and calculation inputs. A reliable review names the source of each amount and shows whether it is provisional or final.
Check the transaction facts first
Place the signed sale agreement, addenda and finance approval side by side. Confirm the purchase price, the last signature date, suspensive conditions, deposit, guarantees, occupation provisions and party details. The acquisition date can control the transfer-duty rate even where finance or another condition is fulfilled later.
Ask whether the disposal is subject to transfer duty or VAT. SARS distinguishes the two. Do not infer the answer only from the seller's VAT registration or a line on an estate-agent worksheet; the nature of the seller's enterprise, property and transaction must be verified.
Recalculate tax from the correct basis
Check the current SARS table applicable to the acquisition date. Confirm whether the amount was calculated on the consideration or a higher declared or fair value, and whether any additional consideration has been included. If an exemption is claimed, record the exact statutory basis and supporting records.
The buyer transfer-cost guide explains each category in depth. For the immediate decision, ask the conveyancer to state the calculation inputs, duty result and declaration status in writing.
Reconcile transfer and bond estimates
Obtain the transferring attorney's estimate and, where finance is secured by a mortgage bond, the bond attorney's separate estimate. Each should distinguish professional fees, VAT, Deeds Office charges and disbursements. Ask which value was used and which guideline or agreed fee applies.
Then compare those accounts with the lender's pre-agreement statement and quotation. Confirm the approved loan, initiation or valuation charges, recurring credit costs, insurance conditions, and which legal costs the bank will or will not fund. A loan approval headline does not establish the buyer's cash requirement.
Check for duplicated or misplaced lines
Compare the transfer account, bond account and lender quotation side by side. A label that appears twice is not necessarily a duplicate: separate firms or registry acts may generate different charges. Ask each issuer to identify its own mandate, calculation base, payee and service before deleting or refusing a line. Conversely, one combined label should not conceal tax, professional work and an official charge in a single unexplained amount.
Confirm whether VAT is included or added on taxable services and whether a quoted disbursement is an advance awaiting the supplier’s final figure. Transfer duty itself should remain identifiable from legal fees and VAT charged on services. The goal is a reconciled schedule, not an assumption that every similarly named cost is improper.
If an estimate uses the purchase price for one line and the approved bond amount for another, record both values. Different bases can be correct for different acts, but each must match the actual transaction document it purports to price.
Build a funding-and-due-date table
Create columns for amount, calculation source, payee, due date, finality and proof. Include the deposit, purchase-price balance, tax, transfer account, bond account, lender costs, agreement adjustments and a cautious contingency. Separate cash already held in trust from money still to be transferred.
The property transfer checklist can align the table with FICA, guarantees, clearances, deed signing and lodgement. Mark the next blocker and the person responsible for clearing it; do not chase every participant with the same general question.
Verify a payment request independently
Before paying, compare the request with the dated quote and matter reference. Independently call the firm through a trusted number, follow its bank-confirmation process and verify any change through a second channel. Stop if an email introduces a different account, urgent secrecy or an unexplained amount.
Record who confirmed the details, when, and how. Preserve the original invoice, verification evidence and proof of payment. Payment security is part of the cost process, not an optional administrative extra.
Decide whether to query or proceed
Proceed only when the transaction inputs agree, the tax treatment is supported, the legal and lender accounts are itemised, the cash shortfall is understood and the payment route is verified. Query a discrepancy before it becomes a late funding problem.
Recheck the calculation when a controlling fact changes
Refresh the written figures after a material amendment to the price or consideration, a different final bond amount, a change in tax treatment, a revised acquisition-date conclusion, or an official schedule taking effect before the relevant charge is incurred. Preserve the earlier estimate and ask for a variance explanation rather than replacing it with the latest total.
Do not rerun only an online calculator where SARS has requested supporting documents or the appointed firm has identified a legal classification issue. The appropriate next step may be supplying the source record, correcting a declaration input or obtaining advice, not producing another unsupported number.
Where the revised total creates a funding gap, identify the amount, due date, verified payee and consequence for the transfer sequence. This turns a general cost concern into a decision that can be checked and acted on.
The conveyancing glossary explains the registration role, while the property transfer service page identifies where transaction-specific legal help fits. Neither replaces instructions from the appointed firms on an active matter.
Close the loop after registration
Request final statements from the relevant firms. Reconcile advances against actual professional fees, VAT, registry charges and disbursements; identify any refund; and preserve the SARS receipt, lender quotation, registered bond information and payment record.
The next step is therefore not a generic calculator result. It is the next documented action on a controlled sequence: establish the facts, classify every amount, fund the shortfall, verify the payment and reconcile the final account.
FAQs
What is the first number I should confirm?
Confirm the signed purchase price, acquisition date and any fair-value issue before relying on a transfer-duty calculation. Then confirm the final bond amount separately.
Why can the estimate change after I sign?
A different loan amount, tax treatment, official schedule, supplier cost or additional legal instruction can change a provisional estimate. The revised version should identify the reason.
When is a quote ready to pay?
Pay only after the responsible firm has issued a transaction-specific request and you have independently verified the recipient, bank details, reference and amount through its established procedure.
What should I request after registration?
Request the final account, compare actual charges with advances, identify refunds or balances and retain the SARS, lender, conveyancing and payment evidence.
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Legal note
This article is general legal information for South African readers. It is not legal advice. Speak to a qualified legal professional about your specific facts before taking action.