KINGSTON, Jamaica — Tax payers will have to wait until the May 12 commencement of the budget debates to know more about the Governments promised $1.5 million income-tax break.

Speaking after this morning’s ceremonial opening of Parliament, Finance Minister Audley Shaw said that he “will speak fulsomely on that issue on the 12th of May when I open the budget debate”.

He added that it was unlikely that any further information would be disclosed before the budget announcement.

However, Shaw noted that “Jamaicans need to be aware that whatever is the fiscal gap, we will have a plan that is fair and equitable to deal with it”.

Under the plan announced by the Jamaica Labour Party during the February 2016 General Election campaign, Jamaicans earning up to $1.5 million annually would be exempt from income tax. People earning above $1.5 million and less than $5 million would continue being subjected to the 25 per cent tax on income in excess of the current $592,800 threshold, while anyone earning income in excess of $5 million per year will be taxed at the rate of 25 per cent of their entire income.

But the proposal was deemed as unworkable by the People’s National Party with then Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips saying it would cost the country $32 billion.

Since then, Co-Chairman of the Economic Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC) Richard Byles suggested that the government postpone the plan as the tax policy could impact the country’s International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.

Shaw today said he would consider Byles’ proposal, but joked that the “postponement would be to the 12th of May when I speak”.

The finance minister explained that “if you assume that we implement the plan without any appropriate remedy to support it then he [Byles] would be right that it would put the IMF programme into danger, but that cannot be the assumption”.

“We have a plan, remember we had a plan before until we learned that the gas tax was not available because it was already accounted for in the general revenue,” he added.

Shaw in the meantime denied knowing that the proceeds from the gas tax were unavailable before taking office and said it was after listening to technocrats and reviewing their projections that he became aware.

“Despite all the newspaper stories and flashing headlines, I did not know that,” the finance minister said.

Keleshia Powell