Severance pay was never taxed - Neal

MBABANE – Minister of )inance Neal 5ijkenberg has come out to state that the severance grant for politicians of the Parliament was never taxed.

Instead, the minister said, the tax was paid in accordance to the circular, which the former legislators cited.

His reaction on the issue is contained in the 5eport of the Ministry of )inance Portfolio Committee, on the debate of the ministry’s annual performance report for the financial year 2023 2024.

He was providing a response following a question that was posed by the portfolio committee on why the former legislators ended up being taxed.

PROVISION

The minister first explained that the table on the provision stipulated in the circular stipulated that an MP or senator was to be paid an ex-gratia payment in an amount, which after tax was equal to 25 per cent of gross salary earned during the term of office.

5ijkenberg said the Government of Eswatini was mandated to pay an amount equal to E422 761.54 as ex-gratia to the Parliament, which was 25 per cent of E1 6 1 046.15 (gross salary earned during the term of office).

He said however, an additional provision of E208 225.83 (33 per cent tax) was provided, which made the total payment to come up to E630 87.37 to allow for the payment of the tax obligation to Eswatini 5evenue Services (E5S).

“The Ministry of )inance is the policymaker of tax legislations in the country and adherence and compliance to them is of paramount importance to us,” the minister said.

SEVERANCE PAY

Also, the minister explained that the tax was never deducted from the severance pay.

He assured that the matter was currently being resolved with the E5S, Ministry of )inance and the Treasury 'epartment.

“Proof of the monies paid to each MP are available and the deductions that were made. These documents were signed by each MP and these were forwarded to the Office of the Clerk to Parliament,” reads part of the report containing the response by the minister.