Unless the pandemic unemployment benefits (PUP) are cancelled, thousands of workers returning to work in hospitality and other industries in the coming weeks may be overtaxed.
According to the Department of Social Protection data yesterday, about 50,754 hotel staff received PUP, up from 54,518. With the provision of indoor hospitality services for fully vaccinated people later this month, this number is expected to decline further. Currently, the government’s goal is to reopen on July 23.
But the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is prompting PUP recipients to get in touch with the Department of Social Protection and annul their payment before returning to the workplace.
If they’re not hands-on, they could be taxed on both their salary and their PUP in their first week back on the job, the professional accountancy body cautioned.
Like most benefits, PUP is taxable. When a person registers for income support with the Ministry of Social Protection, that person's new income will be automatically reported to Income. This is also true when the PUP recipient returns to work-he reports to the department and then to the income.
