OVER E4 000 TAX DEDUCTION FOR FELIX!

MBABANE – While local football stars still struggle to make ends meet, they still cannot escape the dreaded Swaziland Revenue Authority’s (SRA) 33 per cent tax deduction – SwaziBank Cup’s Player of the Series Felix Badenhorst had over E4000 slashed.

His Best Player Award was worth E13 000 but he only received E8 710, which indicates a deduction of 33 per cent, equivalent to a E4 290 cut. He is not the only player to have suffered; but so did the MTN League’s Best Player in Mbabane Highlanders’ Lungelo Tsabedze.

The Highlanders 23-year-old star’s award was worth E9 000 but after the tax cut, he took home E6 030. This reflects a tax deduction of E2 970. With the SwaziBank Cup awards paying slightly higher, the Top Goalscorer, Best Coach, Best Referee and Best PRO all went through the same agony.

The Top Scorer’s Award, worth E10 000, was shared by three players, including Lungelo, which is a double impact for him, perhaps triple as he also had a similar deduction in the MTN League top scorer’s award, which he shared with two other players, each getting E1 184 after the 33 per cent cut.

Best Coach Thabo ‘Koki’ Vilakati was to take home E8 500 but after deduction, his prize was down to E5 695, less by E2 805. The tax deductions have been a cause for concern, especially after the high-paying Ingwenyama Cup awards where recipients were left stunned by the heavy cut.

Some clubs have successfully given internal incentives to their players for winning titles without the tax cuts, which has seen the media almost run dry on the amounts shared by their players. However, the sponsored awards have not had the same fortune. PLS Chief Executive Officer (CEO) John Mazibuko when reached confirmed that the SRA does take its cut but it was all through the country’s legislation.

“It is something we have acknowledged needs to be addressed somehow such that in the near future we should be able to meet with SRA and try to find solutions together as stakeholders.

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