In my view, the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) should focus on improving tax compliance, have confidence in its plan to do so, and withdraw the proposed reduction in zero-rate electricity threshold and the imposition of GCT on Group Health Insurance.

The presentations and the revenue measures give the impression of a focus on “routine balancing the books” and not of a “growth-oriented budget”.

It gives the impression that the main focus is on closing the gap caused by the increase in the income tax threshold. I wonder if it fully takes into account the automatic increase in tax collection due to the increase in employment and growth in the economy.

The following are some of my concerns:

-No clarity about the focus on growing the economy.

-No priority for simplifying the tax system; in fact, people are finding it more difficult to file their returns because of the complexity of forms/the differing interpretations of terms used.

The GCT is so complex that people have difficulty in dealing with it. Why can’t it be simplified, which was the original intention when it was introduced?

-No announcements about any new/special incentives for increasing exports or reducing imports.

-No confidence in the government’s ability to collect the arrears of income taxes amounting to $234 billion and property taxes amounting to $13 billion. If the GOJ had confidence in improving compliance, they would have said that even if we collect 10 per cent of those arrears we need not impose any new taxes. If we collect more, then we can reduce some taxes.

-Even if the authorities are confident of collecting one per cent more of the arrears, they can withdraw the proposed change in GCT on residential electricity and on group health insurance. I urge them to do so.

-No clear timetable for the Public Sector Reform and reduction of the Wage/GDP ratio to less than nine per cent.

-No clear medium-term plan regarding the GCT on residential consumption of electricity.

-Half-hearted reduction in interest rate on student loans only for some courses. The reduction should have been across the board for all courses. In any case, the interest rate of 9.5 per cent for students loans is high. Why not reduce the interest rate to 7.0 per cent for students’ loans for all courses?

-Unnecessary imposition of GCT on group health insurance. What is the rationale for this? Do we want to discourage companies from providing this insurance? It will be advisable to withdraw this.

-No plan/timetable about the payment of withholding tax refunds that the GOJ owes to pension funds and others.