How the Housing Levy Affects Your Payroll

The Affordable Housing Levy is deducted from employees and matched by employers, then remitted alongside other statutory payroll obligations.

Because it applies to both sides of the payslip, it changes both the employee's net pay and the employer's total cost of employment — worth modelling into any hiring or budgeting decision.

Key insights

• The levy is charged on gross monthly pay, with an equal contribution from the employer.
• It is remitted together with, but tracked separately from, other statutory deductions.
• Late or incorrect remittance carries the same penalty exposure as other statutory payroll obligations.

Illustrative computation

1. 1

   Determine gross monthly pay.

2. 2

   Apply the levy rate to gross pay to get the employee contribution.

3. 3

   Apply the matching rate for the employer contribution.

4. 4

   Remit both amounts together under the levy's dedicated payment code.

Compliance tips

• Confirm your payroll software's levy configuration after any statutory rate change — many systems don't auto-update.
• Budget for the employer-matched portion as a real cost increase, not just a payroll pass-through.
• Keep a clear audit trail showing the levy was computed and remitted separately from PAYE and NSSF.