Dear Editor,

​The proposed 15 per cent General Consumption Tax (GCT) on imported digital services is a direct blow to Jamaica’s future.

We are constantly urged by our leaders to embrace the digital age, to innovate, and to build a globally competitive economy. Yet this new tax actively penalises the very people trying to make that vision a reality.

​This is not a harmless tax on luxury entertainment; it is a heavy toll on the essential infrastructure of modern business. Operating Albion Business & Financial Services here in St Thomas, I witness daily the immense financial pressure small enterprises face just to stay compliant and keep their doors open. We are building local solutions from the ground up — platforms like
PayrollJA and the
CC Business Suite — to solve uniquely Jamaican problems. But to build them we absolutely rely on international cloud hosting, development software, and productivity tools.

​Adding a 15 per cent surcharge to these operational lifelines is devastating. It prices our local creators out of the market before they even get off the ground. The Government claims this aligns with global standards, but Jamaica is a developing tech hub. We need incubation, not suffocation.

​The urgency here cannot be overstated. By the time this takes effect in 2027, the damage to our tech ecosystem will be locked in. The Ministry of Finance must immediately establish clear exemptions for software used for business, development, and education. If we tax the tools of innovation today, we will have nothing left to build with tomorrow.

​
Charlton Chutckhan

Albion, St Thomas

cchutckhan@outlook.com