Durrant Pate/Contributor

Prime Minister Andrew Holness says come January next year, Jamaica will have a single payroll tax system, making good on a promise which has been talked about over the last 18 years.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) 2025 Regional Investments and Capital Markets Conference, Holness announced that he has given Tax Administration Jamaica an earlier deadline to get the system operational.

“I have given the tax authorities a deadline but can’t say it publicly yet but they have a deadline. And I received an update from the Ministry of Finance and Tax Administration Jamaica and we are targeting implementation of this by January 2026,” he told the bumper audience of leading financial and capital market players at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel.

Declaring that his administration is moving forward with this process of consolidating the various payroll taxes into a single payroll tax deduction, which was started in 2007 and meandered through administrations, which just didn’t get done Minister Holness boasted, “We are now well on our way in getting it done.”

He disclosed thar the administration is exploring increasing the threshold at which small business need to register and account for General Consumption Tax (GCT). It was last increase in 2019 moving from J$3 million to J$10 million. 

Relieving small business of GCT burden

Holness said the government is looking to further increase this threshold to further reduce this burden for small businesses with the announcement being greeted with much applause from the large turnout. This will mean small business with sales of J$10 million and less annually will be relieved of any GCT collections.

He also announced that the government is exploring revamping the current Urban Renewal Tax Credit to spur investment in redeveloping and urban areas. 

This include involve restructuring its framework and expanding the geographical areas that qualify for this incentive. As such, he indicated that the urban centres which the government plans to establish in each parishes would fall under this special incentive programme, spurring economic activities in these areas. 

The first of these urban centres, the prime minister identified as the Morant Bay Urban Centre, which will be the first purpose built facility of its kind in the island, and will be the model for the other parishes.