PARLIAMENT yesterday passed a bill to remove tax concessions granted by government to 21 public sector companies.

The bill, piloted by Finance Minister Omar Davies, will see the removal of concessions on stamp duty, income tax, property tax and others like transfer taxes from the entities, including the Bank of Jamaica.

Davies, in piloting the bill, told parliamentarians that Cabinet had decided to remove the exemptions enjoyed by these companies “in order to reduce the fiscal deficit and encourage the efficient management of, and the exercise of fiscal prudence and discipline by, these enterprises”. The bill: “An Act to provide for the removal of certain tax concessions enjoyed by several public enterprises”, was approved with no amendments.

He said the affected companies were those which were self-financing and not a charge on the budget.

The companies will, however, be granted zero-rating in respect of goods purchased, imported or taken out of bond by or on behalf of, and services rendered to the named entities in transactions with:

* a ministry or department of government;

* a statutory body or authority, other than those affected by the new legislation;

* any parish council and the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation.

Opposition spokesman on finance, Audley Shaw, welcomed the move, stating that “it might improve accountability”. He said that “some public companies are being run like private businesses”.

Yesterday, Parliament also passed a bill to amend the Customs Act.

The bill seeks, among other things, to:

* provide for the seizure and detention of computer equipment believed to contain information relating to uncustomed, prohibited or restricted goods;

* provide for the seizure of goods, notwithstanding that they are in the hands of a third party, where such goods are reasonably suspected to be uncustomed or prohibited goods, and even in the absence of a conviction relating to those goods; and

* secure the right of innocent third parties with an interest in goods seized or forfeited under the customs laws, to compensation or restoration of the goods.

COMPANIES AFFECTED:

Agricultural Credit Bank

Air Jamaica

Airports Authority

Bank of Jamaica

Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation

Jamaica Commodity Trading Company Limited

Jamaica Development Bank

Jamaica Merchant Marine Limited

Jamaica Mortgage Bank

Jamaica Sugar Holdings Limited

National Development Bank of Jamaica Limited

National Hotels and Properties Limited

National Housing Corporation Limited

National Housing Trust

National Investment Bank of Jamaica

National Water Commission

Petrojam Limited

Petroleum Corporation

Port Authority of Jamaica

Sugar Industry Authority

Urban Development Corporation