NTUCB Wants Retirees to Keep More of Their Severance Pay

A proposal aimed at putting more money into the pockets of retired workers is back on the government’s desk. The National Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB) is calling for an end to the twenty-five percent income tax deduction on severance payments, arguing that workers who have spent decades contributing to the country should not face a significant tax hit just as they enter retirement and begin living on reduced incomes. We spoke with NTUCB President, Ella Waight, who says retirement should mark the beginning of financial security, not a new financial burden.

 

Ella Waight, President, NTUCB

“We have submitted today a proposal to the Prime Minister, again, the Minister of Finance, where we find it concerning and it comes from the very members of our union. When they retire at the age of sixty, they are being deducted twenty-five percent income tax from their severance pay. There are some entities that this does not happen to because they are on an exemption list, but there are thousands of people who this happens to. And we’re trying to ensure that it is equitable, it is across the board, the treatment. There are persons, once they have normal retirement at the age of sixty, they will not be deducted that income tax from the severance, whether they need to retire because of some form of disability or because of being retrenched or because of redundancy. We’re hoping that the Minister of Finance, via the income tax, will consider not deducting the twenty-five percent income tax. It is important to realize that persons who retire are transitioning from a point where they are getting a full-time salary to a point where they’re only receiving, in most cases, a servant’s fee and social security pension. If they qualify for pension and social security, some people only get a grant. So we do realize that the need for these persons to retire and live in dignity would enable just that small assistance of not getting that twenty-five percent income tax deducted from their severance pay.”

 

Waight said the NTUCB has repeatedly submitted proposals and recommendations to the government, including measures to address the cost of living and corruption, but has yet to receive a response or be invited to meet.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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