Is a commission based salary taxed differently?
By Marc Sevitz · Updated
No it is not, all income from employment regardless of salary or commission are taxed the same. You can also, in fact, deduct travelling expenses against this commission and if your commission represents more than half of your income in total you would be able to deduct other expenses incurred in earning this income.
Alright so my salary is 100% commission based and depends on how many clients I attend to per month and therefore varies each month. So the way my income is taxed should not be any different from someone who earns the same amount as me anually but with a fixed monthly salary? Am I correct?
The only difference is that if you do not have a tax directive, which is a document from SARS saying what percentage your employer should deduct each month, then you would be subject to the PAYE on your commission as if that is the annual figure (so x 12) which may mean your PAYE fluctuates each month. However if you have ever paid then you will receive a refund at year end.