Free legal calculator
Price party-and-party costs on the gazetted tariff
Build an estimate of party-and-party costs item by item on the gazetted tariff for the Magistrates’ Court, High Court or Supreme Court of Appeal, priced at the rates in force on the date the work was done.
Nothing you enter is saved. Rates, tariffs and tax tables come from the published sources we maintain, dated so each result uses the figures in force on the dates you give. Every result shows where its numbers came from.
A calculation aid, not legal advice. Check the result against the Act, the rules of court and any practice directive of the division before relying on it. If a deadline matters, speak to an attorney.
Good to know
Questions, answered
- What does this calculate?
- Party-and-party costs on the tariffs gazetted for the Magistrates’ Courts (Annexure 2, scales B, C and D), the High Court (Rule 70, with the counsel scales under Rule 69(7) and 67A) and the Supreme Court of Appeal (Rule 18). These are the amounts a costs order usually allows, not what an attorney charges their own client.
- Why does it ask for the date of the work?
- A bill of costs is taxed on the tariff in force when the work was done. Tariffs change by notice in the Government Gazette, so the calculator picks the item rates that applied on the date you enter and names the gazette they come from.
- Which Magistrates’ Court scale applies?
- Scale B for claims up to R50 000, scale C for R50 000 to R200 000 (or a District Court matter where the amount is not apparent), and scale D above R200 000 or in the Regional Court. Scale A was repealed in June 2023.
- How are time items charged?
- Per period or part of one: a 16-minute attendance on a per-15-minute item counts as two periods. Gazetted minimums and maximums (for example the cap on telephone attendances) are applied after that, and the result shows when one was.
- Should VAT be added?
- Only where the party recovering the costs cannot claim the VAT back as input tax. Tick the box to add VAT at the statutory rate if that applies.
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