On November 10, 2026, the National Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB) has resubmitted a long-stalled policy proposal to the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Finance, urging the government to eliminate the 25% income tax currently levied on severance payouts for all retiring workers across the country. The advocacy push, rooted in direct feedback from thousands of NTUCB rank-and-file members, targets a longstanding inequity in Belize’s tax code that the union argues imposes an unnecessary financial strain on residents at the exact moment they transition out of full-time formal employment. NTUCB President Ella Waight emphasized that the existing policy creates a two-tier system: a small subset of employers on a government exemption list already see their staff receive full untaxed severance payouts, while the vast majority of private and public sector workers face a 25% deduction the moment they reach the standard retirement age of 60, or are forced to exit the workforce early due to disability, retrenchment, or corporate redundancy. Waight noted that for most retirees, this lump sum severance payment is a critical financial buffer as they move from earning a steady full-time salary to relying on limited, often meager, post-employment income streams: many only qualify for a modest social security pension, a small fixed gratuity, or in some cases, a minimal public assistance grant. The 25% tax cut erodes that buffer significantly, undermining the ability of workers who have contributed decades of labor to Belize’s economy to retire with basic financial dignity. The NTUCB leader also disclosed that this severance tax relief proposal is just one of multiple unaddressed advocacy packages the union has delivered to successive administrations in recent years, including targeted interventions to curb soaring cost of living expenses and implement stronger anti-corruption safeguards for public funds. To date, the union has received no formal written response to these submissions, nor has it been extended an official invitation to meet with Ministry of Finance or senior cabinet officials to negotiate the proposed changes. The union is now calling on the government to prioritize the severance tax exemption as a low-cost, high-impact reform that delivers immediate, tangible financial support to some of the country’s most economically vulnerable residents.