JLP promises to reduce income tax to 15 per cent if re-elected

The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is promising to reduce income tax to 15 per cent of annual earnings on a phased basis, if it continues in Government.

The proposal was made in the party's just released 110-page manifesto - i Choose Jamaica, The Next Chapter.

"We will build on our 1.5 [income tax threshold], the largest increase in the income tax threshold in decades and embark on a disciplined, deliberate phased move toward a long-term base rate for personal income tax of 15 per cent," the document said.

In Jamaica, a personal income tax rate of 25 per cent - and 30 per cent for income exceeding $6 million - is applied to annual taxable income.

The JLP said this is a clear, long-term vision for Jamaica's tax system to steadily reduce the burden of direct taxes, and shift towards a more growth-friendly structure that relies more on indirect taxation and allows hardworking Jamaicans to keep more of what they earn.

The party said the move would promote fairness and equity by ensuring that all contributors to national development are treated fairly and reward effort and enterprise by broadening the tax net so that the responsibility of funding public services is more evenly shared, all while maintaining the economic stability. It said the government worked hard to achieve.

In March, the Andrew Holness administration announced that the income tax threshold would increase to $2 million over a three-year period starting April 1.

At that time, Finance Minister Fayval Williams said that the threshold would first rise to $1.8 million, then to $1.9 million, and finally to $2 million.

"Doing it this way means our hardworking taxpayers don't have to guess year after year if the threshold is going to increase," she said while opening the 2025-2026 budget debate.

Income earned at or below the threshold is not subject to income tax.

This increase continues a trend that started with the significant jump to $1.5 million in 2017, fulfilling a 2016 JLP election promise.

Meanwhile, the JLP is pledging to reduce and ultimately eliminate the asset tax requirement for regulated financial institutions, "as fiscal space allows".

Further, the party said it will consolidate statutory deductions.

"We will replace the four separate statutory deductions (Education Tax, HEART, NIS NHT) with a single consolidated deduction, simplifying payroll administration for employers and employees. We will also streamline the reporting requirements for statutory deductions, reducing the administrative burden on businesses," the JLP manifesto said.

- Kimone Francis

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