KINGSTON Jamaica – Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) has announced two more dates for payouts of the government’s $20,000 reverse income tax credit, namely December 16 to 20, followed by a final disbursement in mid-January.

Chief Corporate Communications Officer at TAJ, Meris Haughton, said that while most payments were successfully processed, “there were delays [for] about five per cent of the payments that were disbursed in November.”

The programme, which facilitates the provision of $20,000 to individuals earning under $3 million, has seen two sets of payments disbursed so far – one at the end of October and the other during the last week of November.

Haughton emphasised the urgency of the disbursements, stating, “It has to be done before the end of the [2024/25] fiscal year, because it’s budgeted for this year.”

“Whatever is outstanding at the remittance agencies will be returned by February so that it can be reconciled and go back into the government’s coffers before the end of March [2025],” she added.

Haughton is reminding residents that proper account management is necessary for payouts.

“You have to be a named person on the account. It can be a joint account, but your name also has to be on that joint account so that we can ensure that the money is going to the intended person,” she said.

TAJ says thus far, approximately 290,000 Jamaicans have received payments through the RITC initiative, primarily benefiting employed and self-employed people.

– JIS