FINANCE Minister Fayval Williams on Tuesday staunchly defended the Government’s reverse income tax credit initiative, which she said has put $5.8 billion back into the hands of Jamaicans.

In a statement to Parliament on Tuesday, Williams stressed that the initiative is “no passa passa; it’s legit”, noting that since October 290,912 taxpayers earning $3 million or less have received their individual $20,000 tax give back.

She also encouraged eligible individuals who have not yet applied to still do so as the deadline is Monday, December 2, 2024.

Singling out critics from the Opposition about the initiative, Williams recalled that when it was announced in March, St Andrew South Eastern Member of Parliament Julian Robinson shared his doubt, stating that $20,000 is not going to be a large enough incentive and that it is unlikely that new taxpayers will be moved by this one-off payment.

On Tuesday, Robinson’s stance seemed to have softened a bit when he said that this 50 per cent take-up of the reverse income tax credit and any giveaway of $20,000 “is welcome”, but added that this is because “the people been suffering for nine years”.

“We look forward to see the uptake from here on in. Fifty per cent is modest in terms of the uptake,” he said.

In response, Williams argued that with the upgrade in the level of compensation in the society, this 50 per cent take-up is indicating that there are fewer persons who are earning $3 million or less in the society. “Because if there were people at that level working, they would have entered their information and claimed that $20,000,” she said.

Robinson asked the minister to indicate the process that will be used to determine the new categories of applicants who will be eligible, and the process that will be used to determine those individuals under a widened programme as was announced by Prime Minister Andrew Holness on Sunday.

Williams, in response, said if he had listened intently he would have heard the prime minister indicate that the Ministry of Labour and Social Security will use their processes to determine who will be eligible for that aspect.

Holness, during the public session of the Jamaica Labour Party’s 81st Annual Conference at the National Arena on Sunday, announced a widening of the group of Jamaicans who qualify for the reverse income tax credit.

He said there is a set of people not captured in the give back as they are not registered anywhere in the Government’s system. Holness said, starting next February, the Government will begin accepting applications from these people — who will be subjected to a needs assessment — and if they qualify they will also get $20,000.

Opposition MP for St Andrew South Western Angela Brown Burke asked the finance minister if she was aware that there are some Jamaicans, like self-employed individuals, who are unable to apply because they are not in the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) system, and asked what will be done to ensure the net can be widened and that individuals who could become eligible are aware of the process to attain this status.

Williams again pointed to the prime minister’s presentation at the conference in which he indicated that there are persons in the society who are not registered for any programme — they might not have their tax registration number (TRN), they might not have their NIS card — and reminded that he spoke to this in terms of initiating a programme for those persons to help them get into the regular system.

— Alecia Smith