Casual, Temporary Workers Tax Reduced To 5% - Finance Ministry Clarifies

The Ministry of Finance has clarified that taxes on wages of casual and temporary workers have been reduced from a 15 percent and 7.5 percent to 5 percent.

A press statement copied to Citi Business News explained that “under the repealed tax Act (2000), Act 592 wages of casual and temporary workers, especially workers in Oil and Gas, Mining and other companies were taxed at the marginal rate of 15 percent or 7.5 percent.

“These are now replaced with a lower rate of 5 percent,” it said, pointing out that the reduction was effected after the passage of the Legislative Instrument (LI).

The statement further clarified that the 5 percent in the Regulation L.I 2244 is therefore a reduction in rate and not a new tax on casual and temporary employees.

The press release follows earlier reports that a new legal instrument (LI) under the country’s Income Tax Act, 2015, Act 896 (as amended) and the Value Added Tax Act, 2013, Act 870 (as amended), has paved way for the reduction taxation of taxes on casual and temporary workers.