Exemptions

(1) There shall be exempt from tax– (a) all the official emoluments received by the Officer Administering the Government during the period in which he is administering the (b) all the emoluments drawn by the Governor- General himself while on leave; 16 (c) the income of any local authority in so far as such income is not derived from a trade or business carried on by the local authority; (d) the income of any statutory or registered building or friendly society; (e) the income of any ecclesiastical, charitable or educational institution of a public character in so far as such income is not derived from a trade or business carried on by such institution; (f) the emoluments payable to members of the permanent consular services of foreign countries in respect of their offices or in respect of services rendered by them in their official capacity; (g) the emoluments payable from Imperial Funds to members of Her Majesty’s Forces and to persons in the permanent service of the Imperial Government in Belize in respect of their offices under the Imperial Government; (h) wound and disability pensions granted to members of Her Majesty’s Forces; (i) gratuities granted to members of Her Majesty’s Forces in respect of services rendered during the Great War; (j) the income of the Government Savings Bank; (k) the income of any institution for the encouragement of thrift which the Minister may declare to be exempt; 17 (l) the income arising from a scholarship, exhibition, bursary or any other similar educational endowment held by a person receiving full time instruction at a university, college, school or educational establishment; (m) any interest paid on savings where the investment does not constitute the ordinary business of the company or the self-employed (n) interest payable by– (i) the Government on monies borrowed by it from, or debts owed by it to, sources outside Belize; (ii) any financial institution or banking company to which the Banks and Financial Institutions Act, Cap. 263 applies, on monies borrowed by such institution or banking company under a loan agreement approved by the Government where the monies are borrowed for the purpose of advancing any loan to the Government; (iii) any person in Belize, on monies borrowed under a loan agreement entered into with any such international or regional financial institution in a foreign country as may be approved in this behalf by the Government by general or special order; (iv) any person on capital used in specified development industries or projects; 18 (o) any inducement, education or other allowance and any gratuity attributable thereto paid or payable to an officer by or on behalf of the Government of the United Kingdom under the Overseas Service (British Honduras) Agreement 1961, Cap. 28 or under any memorandum or amending, extending or replacing that agreement; (p) payment received out of the Social Security Fund established under the Social Security Act, Cap. 44 in respect of sickness benefit, maternity allowance, child’s pension and child’s death benefits; (q) any pension paid by the Government of Belize or by any other person resident in Belize in respect of the past services of an individual or of the husband, wife, parent or other relative of that individual, or given to that individual in respect of the past services of any other deceased person, whether or not such individual, husband, wife, parent, relative or deceased person had contributed towards such pension; (r) any pension or annuity paid by any person or authority outside Belize to a retired person who is ordinarily resident in Belize and when such pension or annuity is received in Belize; (s) payments received under any social security scheme or fund, whether made by a person resident in Belize or abroad, provided that such payments are proved to the satisfaction of the Commissioner to be social security 19 (t) gratuities paid by the Government of Belize, or by a public statutory body, to its employees (whether contract or non-contract employees) in respect of past services; (u) dividends of up to one thousand dollars paid to a shareholder in any basis year by a company which is engaged in development industries or projects; (v) winnings from– (i) ‘Boledo lottery’, ‘Jackpot lottery’ or ‘Ordinary lottery’ as those terms are defined in the Lotteries Control (ii) any lottery where the winning is less than one thousand five hundred dollars; (w) interest from any debentures, treasury bills, treasury notes or bonds issued by or under the authority of the Government of Belize; (x) (y) interest paid or received by a company that is issued a DPA status under the Designated Processing Areas Act in relation to income earned through a bond or dividends paid to or received by a shareholder in any basis year if the activities of such company includes activities within a national priority sector in accordance with the Designated Processing Areas Act. CAP. 280. (2) Subject to sub-section (1)(y), nothing in this section shall be construed to exempt in the hands of the recipients any dividends, interest, bonuses, salaries or wages paid wholly or in part out of the income so exempted. (3) For the purposes of this section, “public statutory body” means the Development Finance Corporation, Belize Electricity Board, Water and Sewerage Authority, Port Authority, Airports Authority, Marketing Board, Central Bank of Belize, Reconstruction and Development Corporation and Social Security Board, Provided that the Minister may, by Order published in the Gazette, include any other statutory body within the meaning of “public statutory body” for the purposes of this section. shipping by non-