Estate Manager
Book a demo
Menu
Product overviewAGMs and general meetingsVoting and resolutionsProxies and Form CRulesComplaints and disputesBudgets and the ten-year planFor managing agentsFor trusteesPricingFree templates and tools
Book a demo

Free tool

CSOS levy calculator

Enter a unit's monthly levy and see the levy the scheme collects for the Community Schemes Ombud Service (CSOS). It is 2 per cent of the amount above R500, never more than R40 a unit a month, and the scheme pays it to CSOS every quarter.

CSOS reg 11(3)(a) 2 per cent above R500, at most R40CSOS reg 11(1) Paid every quarter

The CSOS levy

2%

of a unit's monthly levy above R500

At most R40 a unit a month, collected monthly and paid to CSOS every quarter.

The calculator

Work out the CSOS levy

Use each unit's administrative fund levy. Where units pay different levies, work out each amount in turn.

Leave out reserve fund contributions, special levies and exclusive use area levies. Discounts and waivers, such as for a unit whose owner receives a SASSA grant, are not applied. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.

The CSOS levy

For one unit, each month

R26

For one unit, each quarter

R78

For 40 units, each month

R1,040

For 40 units, each quarter

R3,120

How it is worked out

2 per cent of R1,300, the amount above R500, is R26. CSOS reg 11(3)(a)

General information, not legal advice.

What the law says

The CSOS levy, rule by rule

Every community scheme, whether a sectional title scheme or a homeowners' association, collects this levy for CSOS. The amounts are set by the CSOS regulations of 2016 and explained in its 2025 practice directive.

General information, not legal advice.

CSOS Act s59, CSOS reg 18(1)

Every community scheme pays it

Each year a community scheme pays the CSOS levy and files an annual return on Form CS 2, with its financial statements, within 4 months of the end of its financial year.

CSOS reg 11(3)(a)

2 per cent above R500, at most R40

For each unit, the lesser of R40 or 2 per cent of the amount by which the unit's monthly levy exceeds R500. A unit levied R500 or less pays nothing, and one levied R2,500 or more pays R40. The formula is subject to the discounts and waivers the regulations allow, such as the full waiver the CSOS directive gives a unit whose owner receives a SASSA grant, and the calculator applies none of them.

CSOS reg 11(1), GN R1232 reg 2

Collected monthly, paid quarterly

The scheme collects the prescribed levy from every unit each month and pays it to CSOS every quarter.

CSOS directive 11.24, 11.26

Only the administrative fund levy counts

CSOS works the levy out on the administrative fund levy alone. Reserve fund contributions, special levies and exclusive use area levies are left out. Regulation 11(3)(a) itself speaks of the monthly levy the scheme charges, but CSOS bills on the directive's narrower base.

A worked example

One unit, from levy to CSOS

  1. 01

    Start from the monthly levy

    A unit's administrative fund levy is R1,800 a month.

  2. 02

    Take the amount above R500

    R1,800 less R500 leaves R1,300.

  3. 03

    Take 2 per cent of it

    2 per cent of R1,300 is R26, which is under the R40 cap.

    CSOS reg 11(3)(a)
  4. 04

    Collect monthly, pay quarterly

    The scheme collects R26 a month for the unit and pays CSOS R78 for it each quarter.

Questions

Questions about the CSOS levy

Anything else: ask us when you book a demo, or write to info@nanotech-computers.com.

What is the CSOS levy?
A levy every community scheme collects from each unit for the Community Schemes Ombud Service, the ombud that resolves disputes in sectional title schemes and homeowners' associations. The scheme collects it monthly (GN R1232, item 2(1)) and pays it to CSOS every quarter (CSOS regulation 11(1)). General information, not legal advice.
Is there a maximum CSOS levy?
Yes. The levy is the lesser of R40 or 2 per cent of the amount by which the monthly levy exceeds R500, so it reaches its R40 maximum when a unit's monthly levy is R2,500 or more (CSOS regulation 11(3)(a)).
Which levy is the CSOS levy worked out on?
The administrative fund levy alone. The 2025 practice directive leaves reserve fund contributions, special levies and exclusive use area levies out of the calculation (paragraphs 11.24 and 11.26). General information, not legal advice.
Does a homeowners' association pay the CSOS levy?
Yes. A homeowners' association is a community scheme under the CSOS Act, and every community scheme pays the levy, so the same calculation applies to each of its units, on the unit's administrative levy, leaving out any reserve fund contribution charged with it.
Does Estate Manager collect the CSOS levy?
No. Estate Manager keeps a scheme's governance records, including the papers for the CSOS annual return, but not its accounts. Levies, and the CSOS levy with them, stay in the managing agent's accounting system.

Related

More on CSOS and the scheme's money

Complaints and CSOS disputes

Complaints handled on the record, and when a dispute goes to CSOS.

Read more

Budgets and the ten-year plan

Administrative and reserve fund budgets, approved by the members and shared.

Read more

Free templates and tools

The AGM notice calculator, quorum and vote checks, and free templates.

Read more

Keep the scheme's records in order

Estate Manager keeps meetings, votes, rules and the papers CSOS asks for in one place, so the annual return starts from the record.

Book a demo