Jamaican PAYE workers could see the income tax threshold increased to $3 million from the current $1.5 million if Opposition Leader Mark Golding has his way.
The income tax threshold refers to the level of income or money earned above which people or companies must pay tax, or must pay a higher rate of tax.
On Sunday, Golding repeated a call he first made in May when he urged the Government to increase the threshold which would have the effect of allowing workers to take home more of their pay. He was addressing the 85th annual conference of the People’s National Party (PNP) at the National Arena.
He said it was “time to increase the income tax threshold from the current $1.5 million to at least $3 million.
This, he said would “take account of the high levels of inflation since it was last reset seven years ago and give a reasonable buffer to ongoing inflation which is still a problem”.
“We’re calling on the government to implement that increase,” Golding added.
The income tax threshold was increased to $1.5 million shortly after the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) won the 2016 general election and in effect kept an election promise. It was that eleventh-hour promise that analysts said secured a narrow one-seat victory for the JLP. The party would go on to win in a landslide four years later in 2020.
