Mon | Sep 8, 2025

JLP and PNP clash on income tax plans at election debate

Published:Tuesday | August 26, 2025 | 11:53 PM
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Opposition Spokesperson on Finance Julian Robinson speaking at the election debate on the economy on August 26.
Antoine Lodge
Opposition Spokesperson on Finance Julian Robinson speaking at the election debate on the economy on August 26.
Finance Minister Fayval Williams speaking at the election debate on the economy on August 26.
Antoine Lodge
Finance Minister Fayval Williams speaking at the election debate on the economy on August 26.
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The personal income tax breaks proposed by the country’s two main political parties triggered fireworks at the second political debate on Tuesday.

The governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has promised to reduce income tax to 15 per cent from 25 per cent of annual earnings on a phased basis, if it continues in government after the September 3 general election.

The Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) has pledged to raise the personal income tax threshold to $3.5 million annually, starting in the next fiscal year, which begins on April 1, 2026.

Fayval Williams, a member of the JLP’s three-member debate team, fired the first salvo, calling the PNP’s proposal the “biggest political scam in the history of Jamaica.”

“Lies! Lies! It cannot be done without imposing new taxes on the backs of Jamaicans,” said Williams, who is also Minister of Finance and the Public Service, during the debate on the economy.

“It can’t be done.”

But the PNP’s Julian Robinson defended the proposal, insisting that although it would result in $55 billion in foregone revenue, the new personal income tax threshold would be implemented without the imposition of new tax measures.

Robinson, the Opposition spokesman on finance, also fired back at the JLP’s proposal, charging that at the “most conservative estimate,” it would cost $68 billion to implement.

“So, where do you get your maths from? Tell the country how you will finance it— which programmes will you cut, where will the money come from?” he asked, referring to Williams.

He was responding to Williams’ assertion that the JLP’s tax plan would cost between $25 and $30 billion, based on calculations by technocrats in her ministry.

“That’s our number, [and] that is doable,” she insisted.

- Livern Barrett

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