The government of Jamaica is committed to the maintenance of its current trajectory towards the achievement of a sustainable fiscal balance, which is an integral element of agreements with international financial institutions. Of necessity therefore, is the augmentation of annual revenue outturn by the principal receivers of the revenue. The Jamaica Customs Agency, as the second largest receiver of the revenue, was assigned the responsibility of collecting $161.479B for the fiscal year 15/16.

The Jamaica Customs Agency contributes approximately 35% of the national tax revenues annually and is committed to at least maintaining this share of the Government’s tax revenue. As at December 31, 2015, the total revenue collected of $135.603Bn represented 84% of the annual collection target. In comparison to the year to date (YTD) collection target and the previous fiscal YTD period, the Agency recorded a positive performance of $14.940B or 12% and $16.691B or 14% respectively. Notably, the Agency has consistently surpassed its monthly collection targets from April 2015 to December 2015 with variances ranging from a low of 2% in July 2015 to a high of 21% in October 2015. Petroleum products, specific categories of motor vehicles, cigarettes and alcoholic beverages continue to be the primary contributors to the revenue performance.

Year to date, the contribution of Import Duty, General Consumption Tax, Special Consumption Tax, and Customs Administration Fee accounted for 83% of the total revenue collected. Except for Import Duty, these revenue items all recorded positive performances relative to the YTD collection target and the revenue intake of the previous YTD fiscal period.

The revenue generated from Import Duty of $22.705Bn was 2.8% or $663.735M below the collection target of $23.369B. Notwithstanding, Import Duty revenue grew by 11% or $2.196B from $20.508Bn in the previous fiscal period. However, some elements of Government policies, such as the three year suspension of the Common External Tariff (Import Duty) on smart phones, diminished the emerging potential of this commodity as one of the key revenue drivers.

Year to date, the General Consumption Tax revenue of $51.129B surpassed the collection target of $49.255B by $1.874B or 4%. In comparison to the previous fiscal YTD period, General Consumption Tax revenue grew by 15% or $6.494B, from $44.635B in 2014. The cascading effect of the General Consumption Tax coupled with the expansion of its base (inclusion of all fees and taxes paid at the ports) in March 2013 as well as the imposition of General Consumption Tax on imports by ministries, departments, agencies and public bodies in June 2014 has contributed to the growth in the General Consumption Tax revenue.

Additionally, increase in the General Consumption Tax revenue may also be attributed to the growth in the CIF values of some commodities such as motor vehicles, steel and machines for the reception, conversion, transmission or regeneration of voice, image and other data by 56%, 78% and 231% respectively, due partly to increased volume as well as the value effect of the depreciating Jamaican Dollar.

The Special Consumption Tax, which is largely a specific tax levied on petroleum products, cigarettes, motor vehicles and alcohol, performed positively despite significant declines in global oil prices and the ban on smoking in public places. The Special Consumption Tax revenue exceeded the YTD collection target of $26.998B and actual collection for the previous YTD fiscal period of $23.165B by $1.675B or 6.2% and $5.508B or 24% respectively. The Special Consumption Tax recorded the highest rate of growth over the comparative periods. The performance of the Special Consumption Tax may be attributed to tariff adjustments as well as increased trade volume and an increase in the CIF value of those commodities such as motor vehicles to which SCT is applied to value.

The Customs Administration Fee dominates the collection from non-tax revenue, accounting for 91%. Despite negating circumstances such as automatic item-specific reductions in respect of sectors such as bauxite, and 50% discount to manufacturers and charitable organizations, the Customs Administration Fee collected of $9.653B marginally surpassed the YTD collection target of $9.638B by 0.15% or $14.516M. Additionally, year over year, the revenue from Customs Administration Fee grew by 4% or $388M, from $9.264B in FY14/15. Arising from the examination of one of the variables on which Customs Administration Fee is levied – the number of domestic containers landed, which grew by 7% or 9,925 from 138,651 in 2014 to 148,576 in 2015, the positive performance of the Customs Administration Fee is justified.