From Business Tech

New data published by The Washington Post shows how much a South African would have to earn, after tax, to be a part of the richest 1% in the country.

The data comes from economist Branko Milanovic, based on numbers from the Luxembourg Income Study which covers income data from 48 countries, including South Africa, between 1980 and 2013.

The South African income numbers processed by the LIS includes data from 2010 and 2012.

Milanovic’s numbers purport to show how much, on average, a country’s richest 1% earns after taxes, and adjusted for the cost of living.

To be classified a “top 1% earner”, you would have to clear $46,484 – or R570,000 – a year, after tax, the data shows.

South Africa taxes its highest earners at 41% of their income, which means that the country’s richest 530,000 people gross close to R1.2 million per annum, on average.

One notable caveat to the data is that it excludes capital gains, and disregards selling stocks, bonds or real estate or any other source of income the wealthiest individuals may tap into.

Read more at Business Tech