Judgment No. 426
Decision
THE COMPLAINT IS DISMISSED.
Consideration 9
Extract:
The complainant claims reimbursement of the tax payable on a lump-sum payment from the pension fund. He relies on the principle of equality of treatment with two officials who had opted for a repayment of their own contributions and to whom the organisation reimbursed taxation payable in respect of those contributions. "The Tribunal considers that there is a categorical distinction between persons who elect to take a repayment of contributions and those who elect to take a lump-sum payment in part commutation of a pension; and that the principle of equality does not require the two categories to be treated in the same way."
Keywords
equal treatment; pension; contributions; lump-sum; commutation; tax; refund
Considerations 4-5
Extract:
The complainant's contract stated: "Income tax reimbursable on PAHO/WHO earnings only". There is not in the contract nor in statutory provisions a comprehensive definition of "earnings". In its natural meaning the word covers all the emoluments and benefits paid by the employer to the staff member. "In the opinion of the Tribunal 'earnings' do not, in the absence of an express provision to the contrary, include a lump-sum payment, payable not by the employer but by the Fund in which the staff member has in effect invested a part of his earnings."
Keywords
lump-sum; tax; refund; condition
Consideration 7
Extract:
"An official [...] is not given an acquired right, i.e. a right of which he cannot be deprived by unilateral amendment, to every benefit conferred by his contract, but only to those which are fundamental. The right to salary and to the well-established allowances, such as those for dependants, is essentially a fundamental right. But this does not mean that every item making up the salary or allowance and every detail of the process by which it is calculated are to be deemed inviolate; or that minor benefits - what are sometimes called 'fringe benefits' - are to be treated as unchangeable features of a contract that may last for 30 years or more."
Keywords
acquired right; reckoning; salary; allowance; family allowance
Consideration 3
Extract:
"The pension is not of course subject to a staff assessment(*), neither is it under the Convention [on the privileges and immunities of specialised agencies] exempted from national taxes."
(*) which is deducted from pay in lieu of tax
Keywords
staff assessment; pension; tax
Consideration 7
Extract:
An acquired right is one of which an official cannot be deprived by unilateral amendment.
Keywords
acquired right; definition
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