Governor of the SA Reserve Bank Lesetja Kganyago has hiked the repo rate by 75 basis points in yet another blow to South Africans in debt. Image: Supplied.
Will GEPF members be allowed to access their pension in 2023?
The Government Employee Pension Fund (GEPF) has provided clarity on whether or not members will be allowed early access to their funds.
Governor of the SA Reserve Bank Lesetja Kganyago has hiked the repo rate by 75 basis points in yet another blow to South Africans in debt. Image: Supplied.
The Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) has provided clarity on whether not its members will be allowed early access pension withdrawal in 2023.
A video and a message had been circulating claiming that GEPF members will be allowed to make partial withdrawals from their pension fund as of early 2023.
GEPF PROVIDES CLARITY ON PARTIAL WITHDRAWALS CLAIMS
The GEPF said the contents of both the video and the messages are incorrect and misinformed.
“GEPF members are not allowed to make any early access withdrawals from their pension fund. Currently, GEPF members can only access funds when they exit the fund through retirement, ill health, discharge from service, or resignation in line with the rules stipulated in the GEP Law.”
GEPF
NEW REGULATIONS ON PENSION TAX
In May this year, the South African Revenue Services (SARS) introduced new regulations for pensioners.
Head of Corporate Consulting Strategy at Alexander Forbes Belinda Sullivan explained how SARS would be introducing its new regulations. According to Sullivan, a pensioner who receives their income from one source will have the correct PAYE deductions made by SARS from their monthly pension.
For pensioners who have more than one source of income, for example, rental income or other policies, the different sources are added together at the end of the tax year. This is done so the correct tax must be paid.
Due to this, pensioners with more than one source of income may be placed in a higher tax bracket.
“This may result in you being placed in a higher tax bracket compared to the amount of tax that has been paid to SARS at the end of the tax year. So what this effectively means is that the PAYE currently paid may not be in line with what is due to SARS – which means you will need to pay in additional money to SARS to meet your tax that is due,” said Sullivan
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