MONTEGO BAY, St James – Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Gloria Henry has welcomed the decision of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Administration to honour its election promise of giving a tax break to PAYE workers.

“I am happy for this, and with the Government honouring its commitment as it relates to the $1.5 million tax break, hopefully it should send a signal to our people that they are serious about the partnership, and hopefully the message will be clear that everyone should participate in growth and development of the country,” Henry told theJamaica Observer last night.

Finance Minister Audley Shaw in his budget presentation yesterday announced that the income tax threshold will be moved to $1.5 million for all PAYE workers in two phases.

Effective July 1 this year, the threshold will be moving to $1 million, and to $1.5 million effective April 1, 2017.

Some 251,000 Jamaicans, Shaw said, stand to benefit from the move.

The income tax threshold now stands at roughly $592,000.

The announcement, however, is a variation from the JLP’s campaign promise of relieving all workers earning up to $1.5 million of their income tax obligations.

Henry added last night that she is also pleased that the finance minister did not increase the General Consumption Tax (GCT) in a bid to make up the loss of revenue incurred in giving the tax break to workers.

“The taxes that I have seen to make up the shortfall, I am not surprised, except the tax on gas. The tax on cigarettes and petrol are okay, but the departure tax maybe is a little too high, but it’s better that than an increase in the GCT, which would have a debilitating effect on the poor,” she argued.

Henry also praised the finance minister for the decision to continue the tax incentives offered by the Junior Stock Exchange.

She said, however, she is “a little disappointed” that there is no provision for any agricultural development in the budget for the parish of St James.