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Understanding your payslip

A payslip is a legal record of what you earned and what was taken off. Reading it properly catches errors, and it is also the document a lender compares against your bank statements.

Gross
Before deductions
Net
What reaches your account
Compulsory
PAYE, UIF
Check
Every other deduction

Gross pay is your earnings before anything is deducted. Net pay is what reaches your bank account, and it is the figure a lender works from because it is what appears on your statements.

PAYE is income tax deducted at source. UIF is your unemployment insurance contribution — a small percentage, and the thing that entitles you to claim if you lose the job.

Then look at everything else: pension or provident fund, medical aid, union dues, garnishee deductions, employer loans. Each should be something you agreed to or a court ordered. An unexplained deduction is worth querying immediately.

Check the payslip against your bank statement each month. A discrepancy is either an error or something you were not told about, and both matter.

Related

Proving your income to a South African lenderTax and your take-home payGarnishee and emoluments attachment orders

Sources and last checked

This page explains how ZarCash works rather than citing external material.

Page last checked 10 August 2026. Statutory caps and lender terms change — confirm anything you intend to rely on with the provider or the National Credit Regulator. Found something wrong? Tell us and we will correct it.