Former People’s National Party (PNP) Senator Dr Andre Haughton is accusing the nation’s two major political parties of conspiring to make “wicked” decisions on tax policy that favour big business over average Jamaican citizens.

Appearing on the Baldhead-N-The Dread podcast recently, Haughton recalled then-PNP President Dr Peter Phillips’ proposal that the General Consumption Tax (GCT be reduced by two percentage points and the subsequent announcement by Government in March 2020 that GCT would be reduced by 1.5 per cent.

“[The PNP] said that because they said they heard the JLP (Jamaica Labour Party) was going to reduce GCT, and it’s PNP policy to reduce GCT,” Haughton claimed.

“When I did my calculations, I realised at the time that it wasn’t the best thing to do to reduce GCT. If we really wanted to give back tax, we should do it from a productive side which is the gas tax, because Jamaica has always faced productive problems so the consumption challenge with GCT is that the multiplier effect of a consumption tax is not as great as the multiplier effect of a production tax.”

Haughton argued that reducing oil prices and gas prices would reduce transportation, food production, hairdresser, barber, banking and other costs, some in part because of the reduction in electricity costs.

“Once you reduce their costs, you reduce what they would want to charge for their product,” he said.

However, he claimed, the two parties agreed to focus on the reduction in GCT instead “because there comes benefit to them because people who a whisper inna them ears a say that”.

Added Haughton: “People who dem depend pon a say ‘A dis we want to make our thing better. If you can get this done you can get a bigger food next time from we’.

“Meanwhile, the average man and the small business who a go benefit from a fall in gas tax can’t get in them ears fi tell them, so the two of them (political parties) team up and say we definitely going to cut GCT because the man them who a go import big bulk going make a big savings and them you depend on.”

Haughton’s claims harken back to his controversial difference of opinion with Phillips in December 2019 when, during his contribution to the State of the Nation debate in the Senate, he controversially said his party leader’s two per cent GCT reduction proposal was an attempt ot “bait” the governing JLP.

At the time he cautioned the government to be careful in considering Phillips’ suggestion and whether it was worth the $26 billion that would be lost in revenue.

Following the fallout from his comments, Haughton, just days later, walked them back and apologised to Phillips for publicly contradicting him.

During his recent podcast appearance, Haughton lamented the failure of leadership to accept his analysis.

“Boy mi try, but is a wicked thing,” he said.