KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) is reporting that over 219,431 eligible taxpayers have successfully submitted their applications for the Reverse Income Tax Credit (RITC) since its launch a week ago on October 2, 2024.

The one-time $20,000 tax giveback by the Government is estimated to benefit over 580,000 eligible taxpayers earning below $3 million.

The RITC is designed for individuals, including the self-employed, pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) employees and pensioners, as well as domestic workers, who earn less than $3 million annually and have completed their tax filings and payments for the 2023 calendar year by August 31, 2024.

Taxpayers have until December 2, 2024 to submit their applications and will need to have at hand their taxpayer registration number (TRN), valid banking information, and telephone number or email address to complete and submit the online application.

They may also choose from a list of participating financial institutions or remittance agencies that now includes Scotiabank Jamaica, to receive the disbursements. TAJ is still in discussions to include additional financial institutions.

According to the TAJ, it is expected that disbursements will be made within four weeks of a confirmed application. Individuals have the option of tracking the status of their application using the confirmation number provided during the application process. Additionally, users of the system may opt to receive notifications via email or SMS text message.

Taxpayers are reminded that to qualify for the tax credit, self-employed individuals must have filed their annual return of income, taxes and contributions payable (S04) for the year of assessment 2023 and paid the required statutory obligations in full by August 31, 2024.

For employed individuals under the PAYE system, their employer must have filed the employer’s annual return (S02) for the calendar year 2023 by August 31, 2024.

Additionally, to qualify for the tax credit, domestic workers must have submitted their National Insurance Scheme (NIS) stamp card for the year 2022 and their names appear in the NIS database by August 31, 2024.