Welcome to the Accountant General’s Department!
The Accountant General’s Department (AGD) is pleased that it now has the responsibility for the pension administration of nine hundred and sixty (960) pensioners from nine (9) Government of Jamaica (GOJ) Statutory Bodies as at April 1, 2021. This change is due to the GOJ’s strategic objective of strengthening Public Financial Management within the Public Sector, to achieve this objective, the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service made the decision to streamline the payment of Pension, making the AGD the sole paying authority of government pensions across all sections of the GOJ in keeping with the Pensions (Public Service) Act of 2017. This change currently does no extend to Local Authorities (Municipal Corporations) which still make their own pension payments on behalf of the GOJ to its retirees.
There are four (4) main changes that will differentiate the AGD’s pension administration from that of Statutory Bodies. Firstly, the date of pension payment for pensioners from Statutory Bodies would generally be paid out fortnightly, however the AGD pays pension salary on the 25th of each month; unless the 25th falls on a Monday or Friday or weekend, pensioners would receive pension payment on the preceding Thursday. Secondly, the AGD does not currently facilitate deductions such as Bank Loans, NIS or NHT be directly deducted from the pension. The only deduction the will be taken from the pension payment is Sagicor health, pensioner’s association membership, and income tax if earnings are over the prescribed tax threshold.
A third change to note is the submission of quarterly life certificates. Although most pensioners are accustomed to submitting a Life Certificate to their statutory body, the AGD’s process differs, to a small extent, from what you may be familiar with. The AGD Life Certificate is an official barcoded document used to verify a pensioner’s living status, it is the primary document used to make monthly pension payments. Your life certificate has a life span of three months and it must be completed and returned on a quarterly basis. In a total of (4) four times for the year, the certificate must be returned for the periods January 31st, April 30th, July 31st, and October 31st.
Lastly, the AGD facilitates overseas payments to pensioners who have migrated and are citizens or permanent residents. Once you are of a legal or permanent resident in your country of preference, you are required to provide the AGD with a notarized letter / completed application form requesting to be paid overseas as well as a proof of residency. Proof of residency can either be the Biographical Page of Passport, Permanent Resident Card or Nationalization Card. Once documents are going to be delivered through the postal services they must be copied and notarized.
For further information, feel free to contact the AGD on any of the following platforms:
Main Telephone Line: 1–876-922-8320
Other Lines: 1–(876) 829-2694, 829-2618 and 829- 2795
Live Chat www.treasury.gov.jm
E-mail: info@treasury.gov.jm
WhatsApp (text only): 1-876-818-6583
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thetreasuryja
Instagram: www.instagram.com/thetreasuryja
The Accountant General’s Department, service with excellence…touching the life of every Jamaican.
