BY MBONO MDLULI
MBABANE – Staff members who had been engaged by the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) are expected to receive their tax rebates from Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS).
The staff members are expected to receive the tax rebates from March 18 to March 21, 2025. According to a statement issued by the EBC on March 17, 2025, the staff members who are supposed to get the rebates are as follows:
- Registration Clerks
- Competent Witnesses
- Polling Officers
- Presiding Officers
- Returning Officer, and
- Support Staff
According to the statement, following the 2023 general elections, the EBC engaged over 10 000 polling personnel, a majority of whom were drawn from the country’s unemployed population. The employees were timeously paid their allowances, and statutory obligations, such as income taxes, were effected on the allowances.
Such taxes, according to the statement, were remitted to ERS, an organisation responsible for collecting taxes in the country. ERS has finished rating normal taxes on individuals for the tax year 2023/24 and it is in a position to pay tax rebates where due, using the EBC platforms.
The EBC has agreed to work with ERS on this regard, as it has the particulars of the taxed individuals. The Commission will expedite the transfer of money from ERS direct to an individual and no money will be handled by the EBC.
EBC has put it on record that the formular and payment of the tax rebate is the sole responsibility of the ERS and the Commission is merely facilitating the payments to the respective individuals. The EBC further suggested that any person who would want to have more clarity on the matter should visit the nearest branch of the ERS.
