DOWNLOAD
- Basic Facts
- Statutory Labor Requirements
- Employee Income Tax In Brazil
- Employee Social Security In Brazil
- Deductible Expenses In Brazil
- Immigration In Brazil
- Value Added Tax (VAT) In Brazil
- Withholding Tax In Brazil
- Terminating Employee In Brazil
- Statutory Employee Benefits In Brazil
- Payroll In Brazil
- Business Opportunities In Brazil Section
- Why Use Global Expansion To Hire Your Employees In Brazil
SHARE ON SOCIAL
BASIC COUNTRY FACTS
Kingdom of Eswatini
Mbabane Lobamba
- Siswati
- English
1.136 million
Swazi lilangeni
.sz
+268
Swazi lilangeni
STATUTORY LABOR REQUIREMENTS
Probation Period
- Probationary periods of up to three months are permitted.
Annual Leave
- Employees are generally entitled to 11 days of paid annual leave.
Public Holidays
- New Year's Day (1st January)
- Good Friday (10th April)
- Easter Monday (13th April)
- King's Birthday (20th April)
- National Flag Day (25th April)
- International Workers' Day (1st May)
- Ascension Day (21st May)
- King Father's Birthday (22nd July)
- Somhlolo Day (7th September)
- Christmas Day (25th December)
- Boxing Day (26th December)
Maternity Leave
- Female employees are generally entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave, six weeks of which may be taken before the due date.
- Two weeks of the leave are paid, if the employee has worked for at least one year.
Paternity Leave
- There is no statutory paternity leave.
Sick Leave
- After three months of employment, employees are eligible for 14 days of 100% paid sick leave and 14 days of 50% paid sick leave at the employee’s base wage rate.
Work Hours
- The work week should not exceed 5.5 days.
Overtime
- Employees can work overtime, but they must consent to perform the extra hours.
- All employees working overtime must get paid at least one and a half times their normal wage rate.
Notice Period
- Employers may terminate employees with the following notice periods:
-
- After the probationary period and one month of employment: one week’s notice
- three to 12 months’ employment: two days for each completed month of continuous employment
- more than 12 months’ employment: one month plus four days for each completed year
Severance
- Except as noted in the labor laws, a terminated employee is eligible for severance pay of 10 working day’s wages for each completed year of service after the first year.
INCOME TAX
- Income tax is levied on all income derived from a source within or deemed to be within the country, irrespective of whether the recipient of the income is actually resident in Swaziland.
- Swaziland assesses resident and non-resident individuals on a graduated/progressive tax rate basis.
|
Taxable income (SZL) |
Tax rate |
|
|
Over |
Not over |
|
|
0 |
100,000 |
SZL 0 plus 20% of taxable income in excess of SZL 0 |
|
100,000 |
150,000 |
SZL 20,000 plus 25% of taxable income in excess of SZL 100,000 |
|
150,000 |
200,000 |
SZL 32,500 plus 30% of taxable income in excess of SZL 150,000 |
|
200,000 |
and above |
SZL 47,500 plus 33% of taxable income in excess of SZL 200,000 |
DEDUCTIBLE EXPENSES
Personal Deductions
- The following maximum deductions apply for the tax year:
-
- Pension fund contributions, up to10% of gross salary, by persons holding appointed office or employment.
- Retirement annuity fund contributions (i.e. contributions during the year of assessment by members of the fund), with the sum of these contributions not to exceed 15% of the taxable income accruing to the taxpayer from the trade carried out by the taxpayer, provided that the total amount allowed as a deduction shall be reduced by any contributions made by the taxpayer to a pension fund.
- 10% of the mortgage interest paid to an approved financial institution at commercial rates, up to a maximum of SZL 2,400, provided that the individual is residing in the house.
Business Deductions
- For the purpose of ascertaining the taxable income of any person, the following may be deducted from the income of that person:
-
- Expenditures and losses actually incurred in Swaziland by the taxpayer in the production of income as well as such expenses incurred outside Swaziland in the production of taxable income as the Commissioner may allow, provided the expenditures or losses are not of a capital nature.
- Expenditures actually incurred by the taxpayer during the year of assessment for repairs of property occupied for the purpose of trade or in respect of which income is receivable and sums so expended for the repair of machinery, implements, utensils, and articles employed by the taxpayer for the purposes of the taxpayer's trade.
- Such sum as the Commissioner may think just and reasonable as representing the diminished value by reason of wear and tear during the year of assessment of any plant, machinery, implements, utensils, and articles used by the taxpayer for the purposes of the taxpayer's trade.
|
Deductible Expenses |
|
|
Personal Deductions |
|
|
Business Deductions |
|
IMMIGRATION
- Visitors’ visas are issued to foreign nationals who visit Eswatini.
- To obtain a visitor’s visa, an individual needs to submit the following:
-
- One recent passport photograph
- Passport that is valid for at least three months before expiration
- Supporting documents or motivation letter that explain briefly the purpose of the visit
- Invitation letter from the host institution or individual
- Itinerary including accommodation arrangements
- Return air ticket (if flying into the country)
- A single-entry visa costs ZAR80.
- The following are the costs for a multiple-entry visa:
-
- 3 months: ZAR300
- 6 months: ZAR700
- 9 months: ZAR1,000
- 12 months: ZAR1,300
- The processing time for a visa is normally two to three days.
- Some of the permits are as follows: -
-
- Class A: An individual who is offered specific employment that will be beneficial to Eswatini by a specific employer and is qualified to undertake such employment
- Class F: An individual who intends to engage in a specific trade, business, or profession (other than a prescribed profession), has obtained or is assured of obtaining the necessary authorization for the purpose and has the necessary capital and other resources to engage in that trade or profession
|
Type of Visa/Permit |
Documentation |
Validity |
Eligibility |
|
Tourist Visa |
|
|
|
|
Business Visa |
|
|
|
|
Work Permit (Class A) |
|
|
|
VALUE ADDED TAX
- VAT is charged at the standard rate of 15%.
|
VAT |
|
|
Standard Rate |
10% |
WITHHOLDING TAX
The WHT rates on various types of payment are as follows (the tax is a final tax for non-residents):
|
Payment |
Residents |
Non-residents |
|
Dividends |
10% |
12.5%/15% |
|
Interest |
10% |
10% |
|
Royalties |
0% |
15% |
|
Management and construction fees, entertainer and athlete fees, and Swaziland-source services contracts (excluding employment contracts) |
0% |
15% |
TERMINATION
Employers may terminate employees with the following notice periods:
-
- After the probationary period and one month of employment: one week’s notice
- three to 12 months’ employment: two days for each completed month of continuous employment
- more than 12 months’ employment: one month plus four days for each completed year
- Except as noted in the labor laws, a terminated employee is eligible for severance pay of 10 working day’s wages for each completed year of service after the first year.
STATUTORY BENEFITS
- These are mandatory benefits as postulated by law
- These include probationary period, annual leave, public holidays, sick leave, maternity leave, overtime pay, notice period, and severance pay
- Statutory benefits also include social security benefits
|
Statutory Benefits |
|
Probationary Period |
|
Annual Leave |
|
Public Holidays |
|
Maternity Leave |
|
Sick Leave |
|
Overtime Pay |
|
Notice Period |
|
Severance Pay |
|
Social Security Benefits |
PAYMENTS AND INVOICING
- The tax year runs from 1 July to 30 June.
- All persons liable to taxation, whether personally or in a representative capacity, are required to file returns within 120 days of 30 June.
- The Commissioner may allow an extension of time as deemed appropriate.
- Individuals in paid employment are subject to the pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) system.
- Every provisional taxpayer (e.g. a company director who earns director’s fees that are not subject to PAYE) is required to submit to the Commissioner, on the prescribed form, an estimate of the total tax payable for the year of assessment.
- The estimate of taxable income for provisional tax purposes should not be less than the taxable income assessed for the latest preceding year of assessment, for which an assessment has been issued not less than 21 days before the date the current estimate is made.
- This rule does not apply if the taxpayer can convince the Commissioner of Taxes that the taxable income for the current year will be less than the taxable income for the preceding year.
- For individuals, the first payment must be made by 31 December and the second payment by 30 June; if a third top-up payment is required, this should be paid by 31 December of the following year (i.e. one year after the first provisional tax payment).
- A provisional taxpayer becomes liable to pay a penalty if the estimate for taxable income for the second payment of provisional tax is found to be both less than 90% of the taxable income as finally determined and less than the taxable income as assessed for the immediately preceding tax year.
