THE Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU) has welcomed a plan by the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) to ease the burden placed on workers by the country’s Pay As You Earn (PAYE) income tax system.

A major plank of the JLP’s election manifesto is to increase the income tax threshold from the current threshold of $592,800 to $1.5 million, which would exempt everyone earning below that from paying income tax.

BITU President Kavan Gayle said that any proposal to reduce the 25 per cent PAYE income tax paid upfront by workers, must be supported by their trade unions as the clearest sign, from any political party, of a willingness to remove what he described as an “albatross from around the necks of their members”.

“The increase in the threshold would provide some breathing space for the vast number of workers, and their unions, who see the PAYE system as unjust, ineffective and based primarily on the craving for taxes from the labour force,” Senator Gayle stated.

“This system is a barrier to the competitive demands of the workforce, and what is being proposed by the JLP, if effected, could allow those workers who earn below $1.5 million to restore their purchasing power, improve their levels of disposable income, improve their chances of reducing their personal debt, increase their ability to pay for goods and services and allow them to increase their savings,” Gayle added.

He said that it must be recognised that the workforce has been operating in a serious austerity environment, which has included years of restraint on improvements in their salaries.

In addition, he said that government’s tax reform position, since the introduction of the General Consumption Tax (GCT), has always been to reduce income tax, commensurate with any increase in GCT, thereby empowering the workers to have more control over their earnings.

He said that since the announcement of the initiative a week ago, it has attracted the attention of a number of union members who have been seeking advice on the matter.

“While we are aware of the benefits the proposal to increase the income tax threshold would bring to workers, we are equally cognisant that implementing this would not be instant and would require time to implement technical policy changes on the part of the ruling Government. We would therefore urge the JLP to suggest, by way of a timeline, when such implementation could be accomplished,” Gayle said.