STJAMES, Jamaica (JIS) – Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Audley Shaw, is reporting an increase in property tax collections for the first quarter of 2017/18, with $3.7 billion garnered for April to June.

The figure is $400 million higher than the $3.3 billion raked in for the same period of 2016/17, when the country collected a record $7.62 billion in property taxes.

Shaw, who was addressing an appreciation luncheon for the all-island property tax team held at the Hilton Rose Hall Resort in Montego Bay on Friday, commended the members for their efforts in enabling the Government to achieve the “highest level of collection in property taxes ever recorded in Jamaica’s history”.

He also hailed property owners who came forward to meet their obligations. He noted that the record figure for the last financial year shows that Jamaicans are becoming more tax compliant.

“The collection achieved over the last financial year was no mean feat. In 2007/08, we collected just $1.85 billion in property taxes; and in 2008/09, it went up to almost $2.3 billion. There was a decline in 2009/10 to $1.8 billion; and in 2012/13, collections climbed to $2.8 billion. By 2013/14, it closed at $5.8 billion, and as we have seen in 2016/17, we surpassed even the record of 2014/15, when collection stood at $7.4 billion,” he noted.

Commissioner General of Tax Administration of Jamaica (TAJ) Ainsley Powell also praised the property tax team.

“All parishes had to pull their weight, and I can say, safely, that the compliance level in all the parishes went up a lot… and that contributed to the achievement,” he said.

The TAJ Commissioner noted that the collection target for 2017/18 has increased to $9.6 billion. “That’s a tidy sum, but I don’t have any doubt… based on what I am seeing coming through in the numbers, that we will achieve this year’s target and probably exceed it,” he said.