Afghanistan Payroll & Social Contributions

Payroll withholding and social contributions

Employers withhold monthly salary tax (PAYE-equivalent) from wages under the Income Tax Law 2009 and remit it to the Afghanistan Revenue Department. Afghanistan has no broad mandatory social-security/pension scheme for private-sector employees; a contributory pension exists chiefly for government employees.

• Salary tax withholding (PAYE-equivalent) — Employer withholds monthly per the salary tax brackets (0% / 2% / 10%+150 / 20%+8,900) (Income Tax Law 2009)
• Withholding remittance deadline — Generally within 10 days after the end of the month in which tax was withheld ((approx — confirm exact remittance window)) (Income Tax Law 2009)
• Private-sector social security / payroll contributions — No general mandatory employer/employee social-security or payroll insurance contributions for private-sector workers ((approx — confirm; limited schemes may apply)) (Labour Law of Afghanistan)
• Government employee pension contribution — Contributory pension scheme applies to civil servants (employee contribution commonly ~8% of salary) percent ((approx — confirm rate and applicability)) (Pensions Law / Civil Servants Law)
• Wage base for salary tax — Gross monthly cash salary and most taxable benefits/allowances (Income Tax Law 2009)
• Exempt salary components — Certain reimbursements and statutory exemptions may be excluded from taxable salary ((approx — confirm specific exemptions)) (Income Tax Law 2009)
• Employer reporting — Employers file salary withholding tax returns and maintain payroll records for ARD (Income Tax Law 2009)
• Salary tax ceiling/cap — No upper cap — top 20% band applies to all salary above 100,000 AFN per month (Income Tax Law 2009)