Posted: Wednesday, November 13, 2024. 9:19 am CST.
By Zoila Palma Gonzalez: Earlier this year, Prime Minister John Briceño announced a new threshold for income tax exemption.
PM Briceño says that the goal is to eventually get rid of PAYE.
“When the then prime minister introduced reforms to the then tax regime, I think it was in 2009, I remember taking some time out to show him in the House that what he has done is basically increase the tax on people. He said, the threshold is at $26,500 but once you reach that figure you start to pay tax at $20,000. So, you were not really doing much for people. Our plan is to eventually get rid of PAYE.
That is our goal. How long it will take us, that is dependent on how fast the economy can grow and how fast revenue can grow, because if we use the tax, we have to get it from somewhere. With growth we hope that we will be able to replace it. This is the first step. We took it up to $29,000,” the Prime Minister explained.
This means that any employee earning less than $29,000 will pay Zero tax.
“Anybody that is earning less than $29,000 will pay zero tax. And those above $20,000 will pay. There was also an anomaly, the way the previous government set up the income tax, let’s say you are at a threshold of $29,000 and you get a raise for let’s say $100, $29,000, $100 for year, the tax regime says you jump into another bracket.
In many instances the reality is that it eats up the raise that you are getting. That was happening especially in the tourism industry. So, I was told that a lot of people in the tourism industry and other industry were forced to pay that in cash, because the workers were saying, I will not take a pay raise, because I am going to get less money at the end of the day. We made that adjustment so that the tax will never be more than the raise,” the Prime Minister further explained.
The PM says that by increasing the income tax exemption threshold from $20,000 to $29,000, an additional 2,851 workers will no longer be subject to income tax.
“Altogether, by these income tax deduction adjustments, over 3.3 million dollars more will be placed directly into the pockets of over 3,500 employees, an average of almost 1,000 dollars increase in net take home pay to these 3,500 hard-working Belizeans,” the Government of Belize noted.
In addition, to further support small business, small farmers, even new homeowners, Government is making access to finance more affordable.
“And as we ring in the New Year, Government will pass legislation so that all mortgages, assignments and cancellation of mortgages for less than $100,000 will be exempt from stamp duty,” the PM stated.
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The post Almost 3,000 employees to benefit as Government increases Income tax threshold to $29,000 appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
Posted: Wednesday, November 13, 2024. 9:19 am CST. By Zoila Palma Gonzalez: Earlier this year, Prime Minister John Briceño announced a new threshold for income tax
The post Almost 3,000 employees to benefit as Government increases Income tax threshold to $29,000 appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
