Dr. Jagdeo says $25,000 one-off bonus is tax-free, falls under $5B allocation for cost-of-living measures

THE $25,000 one-off bonus which will benefit public sector employees across Guyana will be tax free, General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has said.

Dr. Jagdeo, at a press conference on Thursday, clarified this in response to misrepresentations surrounding the government’s announcement of a slew of bonuses announced for public sector employees.

“I’ve seen a lot of misrepresentation since this announcement was made by the President; the first is that this is salary increase for public sector employees for 2023. This is not the salary increase for public servants in 2023,” he said.

President Dr. Irfaan Ali, on Thursday morning announced that public servants, including teachers, members of the Joint Services and employees of semi-autonomous agencies will receive a $25,000 bonus, payable from December 1, 2023.

The funds for this initiative come from the $5 billion allocation in Budget 2023 for cost-of-living measures.
Clarifying that public servants will still receive the usual annual increase, Dr. Jagdeo said: “We have to announce the annual increase for public servants and public sector employees for the year, generally, for 2023.When that is announced, the rate will be calculated, and they would get their entire retroactive package for the year.
“The grant is a tax-free grant; it is not taxable, so the $25,000 will not be taxable. This grant is coming not from funds set aside.”