Following the week of civil unrest earlier in July that resulted in extensive damage to property and the loss of businesses and jobs, the President announced in his speech on 25 July 2021, a range of tax relief measures to support the recovery of the economy and provide relief to the poor and those who are vulnerable as a result of the lockdown measures that have had to be imposed to deal with COVID-19.
These tax relief measures include the expansion of the Employment Tax Incentive (ETI) for a period of four months, as well as PAYE Payment deferrals for three months for qualifying industries. Due to the urgency of getting financial assistance to the disadvantaged parties as soon as possible, the effective date of the extended ETI Relief and PAYE deferral will be 1 August 2021.
The Tax Bills detailing the legislation framework of these measures have not yet been promulgated, but the indication is that the changes to ETI are likely to follow last year’s approach as closely as is practical. The advice is therefore to apply for the Extended ETI relief as detailed in the Draft Disaster Management Tax Relief Bill of 19 May 2020 for the period prior to the new Bill being released.