Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) President Mark Malabver said Monday that educators are deeply troubled by the Government’s proposed changes to the duty concession on motor vehicles for public sector workers, warning that the move would undermine teachers whose duties require travel, especially in rural communities.

“It is effectively taking the legs of guidance counsellors, deans of discipline, vice-principals, bursars, principals, and even master teachers… from underneath them because these posts require extensive travel,” Malabver argued.

According to him, guidance counsellors are required to do a lot of home visits, especially for rural schools. As such, they have to travel “on some heavy and steep terrain to get to the homes of students”.

The proposed modification to the 20 per cent duty concession was announced by Finance Minister Fayval Williams in her budget presentation last week in the House of Representatives.

She noted that currently, under the 20 per cent duty concession framework, public officials in eligible posts are afforded preferential tax treatment on importation of motor vehicles.

She pointed out that within this framework, both the special consumption tax (SCT) and General Consumption Tax (GCT) are fully waived, and the applicable Customs duty is 20 per cent of the vehicle’s cost, insurance and freight value.

“Consequently, beneficiaries of the concession are required to pay 20 per cent Customs duty with no liability for SCT or GCT,” Williams said.

The finance minister said the proposal is for the 20 per cent duty concession on motor vehicles to be amended and the 20 per cent import duty remain payable, the GCT becomes payable, and the SCT exemption remains.

“The estimated revenue gain associated with removal of the GCT exemption is approximately $1.3 billion, and it will be effective May 1, 2026,” the minister added.

But on Monday, Malabver said the proposal “is a matter of grave concern for educators”.

“Persons who are assigned to getting vehicle concessions are like principals, vice-principals, deans of discipline, bursars, and guidance counsellors. These are the categories of educators who are given vehicle concessions,” Malabver said.

“By virtue of imposing a 15 per cent GCT on vehicle concessions, it invariably means that when you do the math, we don’t know if the 15 per cent GCT is going to be applied after the 20 per cent duty concession itself is subtracted or before. Notwithstanding, it is going to result in a net concession of only five per cent, based on my calculations,” the JTA president argued.

He complained that the levy was proposed “without any form of consultation, [or] understanding as to the inner workings of any institution”, saying that he could not understand why, even after meeting with the Ministry of Finance and Public Service on many occasions, there was no indication of the planned changes to the concession.

“We were in active negotiations on or around the 4th of February, and at no point in time did the Ministry of Finance indicate to us that this was the direction in which they were going. We were right there at the negotiation table and they did not seek to engage us on this matter as to the GCT. The Government is far removed from the realities on the ground and what they are doing when they do these things is that they are effectively curtailing productivity in our education system,” the JTA president said.

“If the Government is not going to give us a concession of 20 per cent, and that is now reduced to five per cent, then it makes sense then that the Government pursues another alternative which is to assign a government vehicle to every travelling officer. That is the only alternative there is,” he argued.

“If you are only going to give me a net five per cent duty concession after GCT is applied, it means that I would not be able to afford a vehicle to carry out my job. I would not be able to afford that vehicle to carry out my job, so the alternative is for the Government to provide each travelling officer within the education system with a vehicle,” Malabver insisted.

Finance Minister Fayval Williams speaking last Thursday in Parlaiment where she unveiled the Government’s first tax package in almost a decade. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)