KINGSTON, Jamaica — Government Senator Abka Fitz-Henley has slammed what he describes as the Opposition’s fixation with taxation and reasoned that in comparison, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) administration believes in giving back to the people and pursuing equitable revenue measures.

Fitz-Henley was speaking in the Upper House of Parliament on Friday during a debate on a bill which is entitled the Large-Scale Projects and Pioneer Industries (Tax Relief) Act, 2025.

Senator Fitz-Henley told Parliament there is a clear difference in the approach taken by the Holness-led administration and the People’s National Party (PNP) philosophy concerning taxation and incentives, which are intended to support the economy.

“There was a time under the heavy-handed PNP administration that Jamaicans faced the agony of new taxes every budget. Indeed, there were 60 billion of new taxes in the last term of the PNP, during which taxes were applied to patty and all manner of items enjoyed by the Jamaican masses. Handcart vendors were not spared. They were told to pay fees. Moves were also made by the PNP to tax savings in our bank account, wicked PNP initiative which is inimical to efforts to cause a market economy to expand,” he said.

Fitz-Henley said Jamaicans should take careful note of the fact that two Opposition spokesmen, Dayton Campbell and Damion Crawford, recently raised the possibility of the PNP imposing new taxes if it is returned to office.

“Of concern is the fact that already, even as they seek to find favour with the Jamaican people, key spokesmen in the Mark Golding-led PNP have proposed tax on food imports, which will no doubt drive up prices in Jamaica and a one per cent increase in GCT. I call on the Jamaican electorate to pay close attention to these utterances by senior PNP spokesmen. It is clear, they have not abandoned their fixation with taxation,” Fitz-Henley charged.

While citing the revision in the income tax threshold, Senator Fitz-Henley reasoned that the Holness administration, enabled by its “skilful management of the economy”, has kept its word in executing policies to ease the burdens on the Jamaican people.

“We have put in place a suite of policies such as the reverse income tax credit, a tax giveback where over half a million Jamaicans qualified for a give back of $20,000. Importantly, it should not be forgotten due to our commitment to easing the burden on every single Jamaican, it is this administration that reduced general consumption tax (GCT) from 16.5 to 15 per cent,” Senator Fitz-Henley said.

The Government lawmaker welcomed the Large-Scale Projects and Pioneer Industries (Tax Relief) Act, 2025 as an indicator of the Government’s commitment to pursuing equitable and transparent policies, which he said augurs well for major investments.

He noted that a raft of measures and incentives intended to benefit the micro-small and medium-sized business sector have also been rolled out because the administration is equally sensitive to the need to improve the ease of doing business environment across all sectors.