Payroll and Employment Taxes in Antigua and Barbuda

Overview of Payroll Taxes in Antigua and Barbuda

Managing payroll in Antigua and Barbuda is crucial for both small and large employers. You’ll need to handle Pay As You Earn (PAYE) income tax withholding (yes—the country abolished personal income tax, but non-residents may still face withholding), social security contributions, medical benefits scheme levies, and an education levy. Payroll compliance can be complex—miss deadlines and you risk penalties, interest, and dissatisfied employees. Local levies vary by public vs private sector, income levels, and workforce size. This guide will walk you through payroll calculations, submission deadlines, filing routines, and avoid pitfalls depending on your business scale or location.

How is Payroll Calculated in Antigua and Barbuda?

Payroll calculation in Antigua and Barbuda involves several steps:

 
• Determine gross earnings—including wages, overtime, bonuses, allowances, and commissions.
 
• Deduct employee contributions for social security, medical benefits, and education levy, all calculated on insurable earnings up to EC$6,500/month.
 
• Apply PAYE withholding if the employee is a non-resident taxable individual.
 
• Employer adds its own contributions. Summarize with compliant payslips.
 
• Total remittance is submitted to authorities.

Types of Payroll Taxes in Antigua and Barbuda

There are multiple payroll taxes to account for, each with specific rules:

 
• Social Security Contributions
 
• Medical Benefits Scheme
 
• Education Levy
 
• PAYE income tax withholding for non-residents

Social Security Contributions

This funds pensions, sickness, maternity, and survivor benefits. Rates (private sector, 2025): Employee 6%, Employer 9%, total 15% on insurable earnings up to EC$6,500/month. Public sector: Employee 6%, Employer 9%, total 15%. Remittance deadline: 14th of the following month—or next business day if weekend/holiday—else 10% late fee.

Medical Benefits Scheme (MBS)

This funds public healthcare. Rates: Employees pay 3.5%, employers 3.5% (total 7%) on gross payroll up to EC$6,500/month. Public sector employees over age 60: reduced rates apply. Same remittance deadline and penalties as social security.

Education Levy

This funds public education. Rate: 1% from employee and 1% from employer on insurable earnings—typically aligned with social contributions. Remittance: With monthly payroll returns by 14th; late submission draws the same penalties.

How to Set Up a Payroll in Antigua and Barbuda?

Registering with Antigua and Barbuda Authorities

Register your business with the Inland Revenue Department and the Social Security Board. As an employer, you must obtain registration numbers for PAYE, social security, MBS, and education levy remittance.

Choosing a Payroll System

Use payroll software or a service to manage calculations, compliance, and filings—especially helpful for varying employee contributions by sector/age. Options include:

• Playroll
 
• International platforms like RemotePeople
 
• Local payroll providers

They ensure accurate deductions, track deadlines, and generate compliant payslips and monthly remittance forms.

Onboarding Employees for Payroll

Collect employee details—name, ID, date of birth, job title, salary, start date. Determine public or private sector classification (affecting contribution rates). Set statutory deduction categories and ensure employees complete any tax or benefit declarations.

Step-by-Step Payroll Processing in Antigua and Barbuda

Collecting Timesheets and Attendance Data

Track hours worked—standard plus overtime—using timesheets or electronic attendance systems. This ensures gross pay includes all taxable earnings as outlined in the Social Security Board guide.

Calculating Salaries and Deductions

Calculate gross pay, then deduct employee social security, MBS, and education levy. If applicable, calculate PAYE withholding for non-residents. Add employer portion for budgeting.

Generating and Distributing Payslips

Issue monthly payslips including gross pay, deduction breakdown, employer contributions, and net pay—required by Social Security Board.

Submitting Payroll to Authorities

Submit monthly remittance form (R5A) and payment by the 14th of the next month (or next business day), via local banks or the Social Security Board portal. Include breakdown of types and both employee/employer contributions.

Paying Employees

Disburse net pay via direct deposit or cheque according to your payroll schedule—typically monthly. Ensure payments occur before statutory deduction deadlines to avoid penalties.

How to Submit Payroll Tax in Antigua and Barbuda

 
• Monthly Remittance: Submit R5A form and contributions to Social Security Board by 14th of following month (or next business day).
 
• PAYE Return: Monthly submission to Inland Revenue for non-resident tax obligations.
 
• Annual Reconciliation: Submit individual employee summaries—income, deductions, PAYE—by year-end deadline (typically early next year).

Payroll Tax Due Dates in Antigua and Barbuda

Payroll Contributions in Antigua and Barbuda

Understanding the tax obligations for both employers and employees is crucial when operating in Antigua and Barbuda's business landscape. This section explains how taxes and statutory fees affect payroll and individual earnings in Antigua and Barbuda.

Employer Tax Contributions

Employers in Antigua and Barbuda are required to contribute to various payroll taxes, including social security, medical benefits, and education levies. These contributions are calculated based on the employee's gross salary up to a specified ceiling.

Employee Payroll Tax Contributions

Employees in Antigua and Barbuda also make contributions to social security and medical benefits. The rates are based on their gross earnings, subject to a maximum ceiling.

Individual Income Tax Contributions

Antigua and Barbuda does not impose personal income tax on individuals. Residents are not taxed on their local or worldwide income. However, non-residents are subject to a withholding tax on certain types of income earned within the country.

Managing Common Payroll Challenges in Antigua and Barbuda

Global employers operating in Antigua and Barbuda often encounter unique payroll challenges that can affect compliance and efficiency, like navigating evolving tax laws and managing employee data. With a need for real-time accuracy, modern organizations must develop strategies to overcome these challenges effectively. Below, we explore some of the most common payroll hurdles and provide actionable solutions to streamline payroll processes in Antigua and Barbuda.

Maintaining Accurate and Detailed Payroll Reports

Maintaining accurate global payroll reports is often challenging due to currency exchange complexities, data integration issues, and the need to keep employee information up-to-date – including tax information, hours worked, leave balances, and any changes in salary or job status. Generating accurate reports is easy with a comprehensive payroll automation tool that consolidates fragmented data sources, and can keep track of employee payments and deductions.

Keeping Up With Ever-Changing Tax Laws & Compliance Laws

In Antigua and Barbuda, tax laws and compliance regulations can change frequently, presenting a significant challenge for global employers. Monitoring updates to federal, state, and local tax codes is crucial to avoid non-compliance and costly penalties, but requires significant time and resources. Partnering with local experts or a reputable global HR platform is an effective way to maintain compliance. These services can help employers stay compliant with evolving regulations while freeing up time for more strategic work.

Consolidating Multi-Vendor Payroll Analytics

Managing payroll across multiple vendors often leads to fragmented data and inefficiencies, making it difficult to consolidate analytics. These challenges can hinder decision-making, especially when trying to gain a clear view of workforce costs and trends. To address this, organizations can invest in a centralized payroll management system that unifies data from multiple vendors. A consolidated platform simplifies payroll tracking, ensures data accuracy, and provides actionable insights into payroll expenditures.

Integrating Multiple HR & Payroll Systems

Global companies are prone to using multiple HR or payroll systems across regions, which can easily lead to fragmented payroll data, increasing the risk of delays and errors in employee compensation. To combat this, seamless integration between payroll and other systems is critical.

Payroll management systems that connect with existing HR and financial platforms can help streamline workflows by reducing manual inputs and ensuring that all departments operate with up-to-date, accurate information. In turn, this helps guarantee on-time, accurate payroll, boosting employee satisfaction.

What Does a Global Payroll Management Platform Cover?

A global payroll management platform is a software solution designed to streamline and automate the payroll processes for organizations with employees across multiple countries. It helps ensure accurate and timely payment while maintaining compliance with legal and regulatory requirements in Antigua and Barbuda.

Key functions of a payroll management platform can include:

   
• Consolidate payroll data: Streamline fragmented payroll data into one source of truth when you’re operating in multiple regions.
   
• Analytics and reporting: Advanced capabilities to analyze payroll data and generate automated reports per region.
   
• Monitor and standardize payroll: Get an accurate view of employee costs, bonuses, and taxes per region, catch variances, and standardize payroll processes across regions to minimize errors.
   
• Compliance and record-keeping: Maintains accurate payroll records and ensures adherence to labor laws and regulations, reducing the risk of legal issues.
   
• Employee self-service: Provides portals where employees can access pay stubs, update personal information, and manage benefits selections.

How Playroll Can Streamline Payroll & Taxes in Antigua and Barbuda

Expanding globally is an exciting milestone for any company, but it comes coupled with complex payroll challenges. It doesn’t have to be complicated. At Playroll, our easy-to-implement global payroll management software combines automation with hands-on support to make global payroll truly simple. Here's how Playroll helps:

   
• Multi-Vendor Integration: Our platform syncs seamlessly with your providers and in-house systems to unify global payroll services in one platform.
   
• Standardize Payroll Processes: Unify your operations in one dashboard to ensure payroll is running smoothly globally, with advanced approval flows and reports.
   
• Improve Governance & Compliance: Improve compliance by centralizing all your compliance tasks and processes. Easily track your payment obligations, with digitized audit trails.
   
• Advanced Reporting: Access and configure your data, your way, with a comprehensive suite of payroll analytics and reporting tools.