CRS News Flash 25 January 2022 – Non-SA Countries – Recent Legislation Changes
JANUARY 2022 – NON-SA COUNTRIES RECENT LEGISLATION CHANGES – Algeria | Eswatini | Egypt | Ghana | Kenya | Malawi | Mauritius | Nigeria | Uganda | Saudi Arabia | Zambia | Zimbabwe It is important that employers note the following:
ALGERIA Tax changes published in the Finance Law 2022
On Thursday, 30 December 2021 Algeria Head of State signed the Finance Law 2022 at the headquarters of the Presidency of the Republic.
The Finance Law 2022 changed the level of income brackets and applicable tax rates. The last modification of this scale was brought forth in the Finance Law for 2008.
As of January 2022, the progressive scale of personal income tax (PIT) laid down in Article 104 of the Direct Tax Code is amended as follows:
Note: Individuals with a gross monthly salary level not exceeding DZD 30,000 will continue to be fully exempt from PIT.
Please note that the FL2022 is only available in French.
ESWATINI
National Provident Fund (NPF) limit increase
The Minister for Labour and Social Security made the following regulations citation and commencement in respect of the Eswatini National Provident Fund (ENPF) (Statutory Contributions) Regulations, 2020.
Legal Notice 140 of 2020, Section 2(1)(b) states that the wages level for statutory contributions for the year 2022 shall be payable by a contributing employer in respect of wages of E3,300 or less during any calendar month.
Effective 1 January 2022 the ENPF ceiling amount of wages for the purposes of the calculation of statutory contributions has increased from E3,100.00 to E3,300.00 per month, bringing the maximum contribution per employee and employer to the following:
On 4 January 2022 the head of the National Social Insurance Authority (NOSI) stated in a press release that, as of 1 January 2022, the minimum insurance contribution wage has been raised to 1400 pounds instead of 1200 pounds, and the maximum insurance contribution wage has been raised to 9400 pounds instead of 8100 pounds.
The decision to raise the minimum and maximum insurance contribution wages follows the implementation of the provisions of the new Insurance and Pensions Law, promulgated by Law No. 148 of 2019, which included an annual mechanism to increase these two limits for the first time in the authority’s history.
As from 1 January 2022 the comprehensive insurance salary (upon which the contributions are based) are subject to the minimum and maximum amounts below:
Please note the minimum and maximum limits are being approximated to the nearest hundred pounds.
GHANA Tax changes published in the amendment to the Income Tax Act On 30 December 2021 the Parliament of Ghana enacted the following Acts in line with the various measures introduced by the Government in the 2022 Budget:
· Income Tax (Amendment) (No. 2) Act, 2021, Act 1071;
· Value Added Tax (Amendment) Act, 2021, Act 1072;
· Penalty and Interest Waiver (Amendment) Act, 2021, Act 1073.
Even though no income tax changes were proposed in the budget statement, the enactment of the Income Tax (Amendment) (No. 2) Act, 2021 on 30 December 2021 made changes to the tax tables for 2022.
With effect from 1 January 2022 the income tax bands are as follows:
To view the Income Tax (Amendment) (No. 2) Act, 2021, follow the link.
SSNIT and NIA numbers merger extended to 30 June 2022
The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has extended the deadline for members of the scheme to merge their SSNIT and NIA numbers (personal ID numbers on their Ghana Cards) from 31 December 2021 to 30 June 2022.
Members who are yet to register for their Ghana Cards are entreated to do so to merge their SSNIT and NIA numbers before 30 June 2022.
From 1 July 2022 the Ghana Card will be the only identification recognised by the Trust. This is in compliance with Regulation 7 (1) of the National Identity Register Regulations, 2012, L.I. 2111 which requires the use of the Ghana Card as identification for “transactions pertaining to individuals in respect of pensions” and “transactions that have social security implications”.
Employers are to note that they will be required to use only the NIA numbers of their workers to process contribution reports and make payments. Voluntary contributors will also have to pay their contributions using their NIA numbers.
The Finance Act, 2021, assented on 29 June 2021, made provision for National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) deductions to be eligible for insurance relief in the PAYE tax calculation, effective 1 January 2022.
The existing insurance relief has been extended to include NHIF relief on contributions to the fund by the employees at the rate of 15% per month, subject to a maximum of KES5 000 per month or KES60 000 per year.
The Kenya Finance Act No. 8 of 2021, Section 13 stipulates the following:
Section 31 of the Income Tax Act is amended in subsection (1) by inserting the words “or a contribution made to the National Hospital Insurance Fund” immediately after the expression “2007” appearing in paragraph (v) of the proviso to the subsection.
Thus, section 31, paragraph (1) (v) of the Income Tax Act, 1973 pertaining to Insurance Relief, will be amended as follows:
“(v) a health policy whose term commences on or after 1st January 2007 or a contribution made to the National Hospital Insurance Fund shall qualify for relief;”
To view the Finance Act No. 8 of 2021, follow the link.
MALAWI
Rollout of e-filing
Following the rollout of electronic filing (e-filing) of VAT returns to taxpayers under the Large Taxpayer Office, Blantyre Medium Taxpayer Office and the Lilongwe Medium Taxpayer Offices in November 2021, the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) is pleased to inform taxpayers and the general public about the rollout of e-filing of the following tax returns to ALL taxpayers from December 2021:
· Pay as you earn (PAYE);
· Domestic Excise (DEX);
· Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT);
· Value Added Tax (VAT); and
· Capital Gains Tax (CGT)
MRA would like to remind taxpayers and the public that Msonkho Online is different from MyTaxOnline/ePayments.
Therefore, in order to electronically file the returns using the Msonkho Online Taxpayer Portal, taxpayers need to complete portal registration under the Msonkho Online System.
For more information, visit the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) website.
MAURITIUS
Portable Retirement Gratuity Fund (PRGF) contributions
On 31 December 2021 the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) published an announcement to inform employers that the obligation to contribute to PRGF will be applicable from January 2022.
The submission of the PRGF return for 2022 and the payment of the contribution due are required to be made on or before 28 February 2022. To this end, the necessary facilities will be available on the MRA website (www.mra.mu) by the end of January 2022.
It may be recalled that the obligation to contribute to PRGF was suspended for the period January 2020 to December 2021.
PRGF contribution with respect to that period shall be deemed to form part of “past services”.
Contributions for past services
An employer will also have the obligation to pay contributions in respect of the past services of an employee who is in employment as of 1 April 2020. An employer will have the option of either paying the contributions for past services:
· On the termination of employment for any cause whatsoever, or the retirement, or the death of an employee, calculated on the last monthly salary drawn by the employee; or
· At any time before any of the events mentioned below, calculated on the monthly salary drawn by the employee as of 24 October 2019.
In case of the resignation of an employee, there is no obligation to pay contributions for past services.
The contributions required to be paid will be:
· In the case of an employee whose employment is terminated
· To the employee when he/she retires on attaining the appropriate retiring age; or
· Where the employee dies, be paid to the legal heirs of the employee,
Note: Unpaid contributions for the period January 2020 to December 2021 will be deemed to be past services and will be paid on exit of the employee or at any time before the exit.
End-of-year bonus Further information regarding the end-of-year bonus was published in a press release by the Ministry of Labour, Human Resources Development and Training on 10 December 2021.
· The Ministry of Labour, Human Resources Development and Training informs employers and employees of the private sector that the “Workers’ Rights Act, Act No. 20 of 2019” provides for the mandatory payment of an end-of-year bonus to employees receiving a monthly base salary not exceeding 100,000 rupees.
· In the event that the employee was employed during the period 1 January to 31 December 2021, the end-of-year bonus will be equivalent to one-twelfth of the annual compensation obtained by the employee.
· The end-of-year bonus will, however, be payable on a pro-rata basis to an employee:
· who, during the year 2021:
· has taken up employment and is still in service as of 31 December 2021;
· retired;
· was made redundant;
· has submitted his/her resignation, while having completed at least eight months of continuous service during the current year with the same employer;
· whose fixed-term contract ended during the year 2021.
· On the other hand, if the employee’s last month’s salary is higher than the average wages during the period during which the employee worked, the end-of-year bonus will be calculated on his/her last salary as stipulated by the “End of Year Gratuity Act 2001”.
· If the employee is still employed on 31 December 2021, the employee must pay the employee 75% of the bonus, five days before 25 December 2021, and the balance no later than the last working day of the year.
· With regard to an employee who will receive a monthly base salary of more than 100,000 rupees, he/she will be eligible, in this case, for the payment of a “free”, according to the provisions of “End of Year Gratuity Act 2001”.
· If the employee was employed during the period 1 January to 31 December 2021, the “free” will be equivalent to the employee’s base salary for the month of December 2021.
· The “free” is, however, payable on a pro-rata basis to an employee who, during the year:
· has taken up employment and is still in service as of 31 December 2021;
· retired;
· was made redundant for economic reasons.
Anyone wishing to obtain additional information should contact the local Labour Office or call the Ministry on 207 2600.
To view the original press release, follow the link. It should be noted that the press release is only available in French.
NIGERIA Tertiary Education Tax (EDT) rate
The Tertiary Education Tax (EDT) is now governed by Tertiary Education Trust (TET) Fund (Establishment, Etc.) Act 2011, imposed on all companies registered in Nigeria.
The Finance Act, 2021 was signed into law on 31 December 2021, following its passage by the National Assembly. The Act introduced a change to the EDT rate.
An increase from 2% to 2.5% for Nigerian companies was introduced, effective 1 January 2022. Furthermore, the Act reduces the timeline for payment of TET from 60 to 30 days after the FIRS has served a notice of the assessment on a company.
Effective 1 January 2022, the General Organisation for Social Insurance (GOSI) announced changes to employee and employer contribution rates for the unemployment insurance law (SANED) GOSI component. All other elements of the current GOSI contributions remain unchanged.
Social insurance contributions are paid monthly, based on the monthly basic salary plus housing (paid or in kind) with an upper limit of SAR 45,000.
National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) contribution ceiling
On 24 December 2021 the National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) published a public notice regarding the revision of contribution ceiling and pension payments for 2022.
NAPSA is mandated to review the contribution ceiling and pension payments annually and adjust them in line with the change in the national average earnings (NAE). This is in accordance with Section 35 of the National Pension Scheme Act No 40 of 1996.
The national average earnings are determined annually by the Zambia Statistics Agency and were increased from K5,797.00 in 2021 to K6,109.00 in 2022.
Accordingly, the contribution ceiling has increased from K23,188 in 2021 to K24,436 in 2022.
Hence, the maximum employee monthly statutory contribution deductible for the year 2022 is K1,221.80, which is 5% of the contribution ceiling.
This entails that the maximum monthly contribution payable by employers is K2,443.60, constituting 5% employee share and 5% employer share.
Employees earning below the contribution ceiling continue to contribute 5% of the individual’s applicable monthly earnings.
To view the national contributions table 2022, follow the link.
ZIMBABWE
Tax changes and Finance Bill 2022
Zimbabwe’s Minister of Finance and Economic Development has approved the Finance Bill ahead of other amendments.
These amendments will give effect to various fiscal measures mentioned by the Minister of Finance in the National Budget Statement delivered on 25 November 2021 and make certain modifications to improve revenue collection and administration
With effect from 1 January 2022 the monthly tax free threshold increased to ZWL$ 25,000 for remuneration earned in ZWL currency.
Annual Tax Tables from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022 – Zimbabwe Dollars (ZWL)
With effect from 1 January 2022 the monthly tax free threshold increased to US$ 100 for remuneration earned in US currency.
Annual Tax Tables from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022 – Foreign Currency
Tax-free bonus
The annual tax-free bonus threshold has increased from $25,000 to $100,000 for income earned in ZWL, and from US$320 to US$ 700 for income earned in USD, effective 1 November 2021.
To view the Finance 2022 Memorandum, follow the link.
To view the tax tables published by ZIMRA, follow the link.
NSSA pensioners increment in January 2022
In Statutory Instrument 169 of 2021, published on 11 June 2021 regarding new contribution rates to the National Social Security Authority’s (NSSA) (POSB), the authority has advised employers that the new maximum amount of monthly insurable earnings in respect of which contributions are payable shall be 75% (seventy five per cent) of the previous month’s total consumption poverty line (TCPL).
The insurable ceiling amount will change each month going forward and therefore the capped NSSA amount has to be adjusted each month as well.
Where the TCPL figure is not available or published, the last published figure is applicable.
For January 2022 the insurable earnings ceiling is ZWL$ 30,032.00.
For both employer and employee the maximum monthly deduction changed from ZWL$ 1,274.99 (4.5% x 28,333.00) to ZWL$ 1,351.44 (4.5% x 30,032.00).
