Tax revenues 4% ahead of budget, says Clarke
Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke yesterday announced that tax revenues are ahead of budget by approximately four per cent for the first four months of the 2018/19 financial year.
Dr Clarke made the revelation while speaking at the Tax Audit and Revenue Administration Post-Graduate Diploma Programme’s graduation ceremony at Knutsford Court Hotel in St Andrew.
He noted that investments in the transformation of Jamaica’s tax administrative services are bearing fruit in an environment where the economic fundamentals are moving in the right direction.
“There is a sense that the practice of increasing taxes each year could mask or hide inefficiencies. The fact that there were no new taxes this year, and for the first four months of the year, tax revenues are four per cent ahead of budget, is very, very significant. And ladies and gentlemen who work within the tax administrative system have everything to be proud of,” Dr Clarke said.
He said that as the Government of Jamaica continues public sector transformation, employees have a crucial role to play in embodying the ideals of the preferred Jamaican State.
“In that moment when you are interacting with members of the Jamaican public, you are the embodiment and personification of the Jamaican State, and since that is who you are in that moment, it is crucial that you internalise, you become, and you project the deepest ideals of Jamaica in your interaction,” Clarke told the graduates.
“In the way in which you relate to members of the public, you become who you want Jamaica to be. You are the embodiment of a wise Jamaica, of an efficient Jamaica, of a compassionate Jamaica, and of a just Jamaica,” the minister added.
He also acknowledged the role of the US Treasury in supporting the development of the post-graduate diploma programme three decades ago.
“A simple seed was planted 30 years ago and has yielded this fruit, year after year after year. It is something we can seek to replicate in other areas, and show that when you invest in capacity-building in Jamaica, you are investing for the long term and it makes a massive impact,” Dr Clarke said.
He congratulated the graduates and encouraged them to continue to strive for excellence. “Your role is a consequential role in the public sector. Your job is at the heart of the public service, and you can influence the way in which Jamaicans perceive Jamaica,” he said.