Employee Trust Act Formerly Known as Tabung Amanah Pekerja Act · 2026 Revised Edition · Part · Withdrawal of Contributions
17. Authority for withdrawals from Trust
Official textFrom Attorney General's Chambers, unchanged
No sum of money standing to the credit of a member in his ordinary account may be withdrawn from the Trust except with the authority of the Board and, subject to any regulations and rules made under section 38(1) and (2), such authority shall not be given unless the Board is satisfied that the member —
member
“member” means a member of the Trust to whose credit any amount is standing in the Trust, or for whom any account in the Trust is maintained for any purposes of this Act;
has died;
has attained the age of 55 years;
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is physically or mentally incapacitated from engaging in any further employment;
lacks capacity in relation to a matter if at the material time he is unable to make a decision for himself in relation to the matter because of an impairment of, or a disturbance in the functioning of, the mind or brain;
is renouncing his citizenship of Brunei Darussalam or decides not to renew his Entry Permit issued under the
Immigration Act (Chapter 17) or his Entry Permit is cancelled.
Notwithstanding subsection (1), the Board may in either one or all of the following instances, on application by a member who —
Board
“Board” means the Tabung Amanah Pekerja Board established under section 3 of the Tabung Amanah Pekerja Board Act;
has attained the age of 50 years, authorise, subject to section 18, not more than one withdrawal from the Trust a sum representing one-fourth of the amount standing to the credit of such member at the commencement of the year in which the withdrawal application is authorised;
has entered into an agreement to build or purchase a house, authorise, not more than one payment of a sum not exceeding the prescribed percentage of the purchase price of such house or the amount standing to the credit of such member, whichever is the less, to the vendor or chargee of such house or such other person as the
Board may approve;
has been allotted or has purchased or has entered into an arrangement which in the opinion of the Board is a firm arrangement to purchase or has built or has entered into an arrangement which in the opinion of the Board is a firm arrangement to build a house or has taken a loan made on the security of a charge on the house for its purchase, authorise not more than one payment of a sum not exceeding —
20 per cent of the purchase price or the cost of building such house; or
the amount of the loan outstanding as at the date of application,
Employee Trust as the case may be, to be paid to the vendor or chargee, or such other person as the Board may approve:
Provided that the amount withdrawn shall not exceed 45 per cent of the amount standing to the credit of such member or the prescribed amount;
and a member in respect of whom authority for withdrawal has been given under this subsection shall notwithstanding such withdrawal continue to be treated as an employee for the purposes of this Act.
Where a member withdraws under subsection (2)(b) or (c) any amount standing to his credit in the Trust, he shall not thereafter be eligible to make any subsequent withdrawal under that subsection.
When a member withdraws under subsection (1) any amount standing to his credit in the Trust, he shall not thereafter be treated as an employee, notwithstanding that, but for this subsection, he would be an employee, for the purposes of this Act:
employee
“employee” means any person being a citizen or permanent resident of Brunei Darussalam, who is employed under a contract of service or apprenticeship or other agreement to work for an employer: Provided that the Minister may, with the approval of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan, by an order signified in the Gazette, declare any person or class of person not to be an employee for the purposes of this Act; Employee Trust 8
Provided that —
if a member withdraws under section 17(1)(c) any amount standing to this credit in the Trust and he is subsequently engaged in any further employment, he shall be treated as an employee but he shall not withdraw the further amount standing to his credit in the Trust until he has attained the age of 55 years or after a lapse of 5 years from the year of further employment, whichever is the later;
where a member of the
Trust withdraws under subsection (1)(d) and he is subsequently engaged in any employment, he may elect to pay monthly contributions to the Trust;
where a member withdraws any sum under section 17(1)(b)
or (d) thereafter, he shall thereupon cease to be a member and shall be precluded from making any further contributions.
An election referred to in subsection (4)(b) shall not be made to take effect retrospectively.
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Terms defined in s 2
Board
Defined · s 2“Board” means the Tabung Amanah Pekerja Board established under section 3 of the Tabung Amanah Pekerja Board Act;
employee
Defined · s 2“employee” means any person being a citizen or permanent resident of Brunei Darussalam, who is employed under a contract of service or apprenticeship or other agreement to work for an employer: Provided that the Minister may, with the approval of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan, by an order signified in the Gazette, declare any person or class of person not to be an employee for the purposes of this Act; Employee Trust 8
member
Defined · s 2“member” means a member of the Trust to whose credit any amount is standing in the Trust, or for whom any account in the Trust is maintained for any purposes of this Act;
ordinary account
Defined · s 2“ordinary account” means an ordinary account maintained under section 15;
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