Section 12H learnerships, explained without the jargon

Section 12H of the Income Tax Act has been around since 2002, but most South African companies still don’t claim it properly — or at all.

What it is

Section 12H gives employers an additional tax deduction for every registered learner they put through a SETA-accredited learnership.

The numbers (2026 rates)

For an able-bodied learner on an NQF level 1–6 learnership, the annual allowance is R40,000 and the completion allowance is another R40,000. That’s R80,000 in deductions per learner.

“We ran our first cohort thinking 12H was a nice-to-have. After year one we realised it almost paid for the whole programme.”

— B-BBEE & Skills Manager, JSE-listed retailer