Govt workers to receive bonus starting today
STATE workers nationwide will receive their Christmas bonus and cash gift starting today, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno has announced.
“In the spirit of the upcoming Christmas season, government workers nationwide will receive their 14th month pay or Christmas bonus and cash gift starting tomorrow, November 15,” Diokno told reporters during a news briefing.
He noted that the year-end bonus is equivalent to a full month’s salary, while the cash-gift amounts to P5,000.
Citing Budget Circular 2016-4, the Department of Budget and Management chief said qualified personnel for the incentives are those still in government service as of October 31 of the current year and with at least a total of four months of service from January 1 to October 31 of the current year.
Also qualified are those who have retired or separated from government service before October 31 of the same year and have rendered at least a total of four months of service from January 1 of the current year. They will get a pro-rated year-end bonus and cash gift, within the month of retirement or separation.
Diokno explained that the 13th month pay and other benefits, including productivity incentives and Christmas bonuses, are exempted from tax if these do not exceed P90,000, according to the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law.
The Budget department has allocated a total of P29.7 billion for the year-end bonus of civilian personnel, and another P6.5 billion for the year-end bonus of military and uniformed personnel (MUP).
Meanwhile, P5.6 billion and P1.7 billion have been allocated for the P5,000 cash gift of civilian personnel and MUPs, respectively.
“On top of these bonuses, government employees can also look forward to receiving their Productivity Enhancement Incentive, which will be released starting December 15,” Diokno added.
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