Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) has launched Tax Week 2024 with a schedule of activities that began on Saturday, November 9 and ends this Friday, November 15, 2024. 

The theme for Tax Week, ‘Standing Together, Embracing the Vision’ will highlight the growth of the organization over the decade, as a semi-autonomous revenue agency, operating as a public body with a Board. It will also be showcasing its capabilities, and achievements which all redound to the realization of becoming a “World Class Tax Administration”. 

The schedule of activities for the week commenced with church services on the weekend in Kingston, Portland, Mandeville and Montego Bay, and have paved the way for a number of other activities on the part of the Tax Authority to recognize the milestone by including staff, stakeholders and taxpayers in the celebrations. 

Expos staged at various tax offices

This includes customer appreciation day across the TAJ network and Expos staged yesterday at the Spanish Town and May Pen Tax Offices, as well as the St Andrew and Montego Bay Revenue Service Centres. A major highlight of the week of activities will be the TAJ Tax Forum today. 

The theme this year is ‘TAJ’s Enhanced Role in Nation Building’, with the new Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Fayval Williams delivering the keynote address. Her address will precede the eight-member panel discussion to explore the topic, while sharing their personal perspectives on the organization’s journey over the decade, and what that has meant for Jamaica’s developing economy and its output. 

The panel will consist of industry experts, the union, civil society and international partners which includes Pamela Wade Fearon, Deputy Financial Secretary – Tax Policy, Kelvin Thomas, 2nd Vice President of the Jamaica Civil Service Association, Antoinette Hamilton, President of the MSME Alliance, Brian Denning, Tax Partner of PwC Jamaica, as well as representatives from the Caribbean Technical Assistance Centre, the Organization for Economic Corporation & Development (OECD), the World Bank and Country Representative from the United Nations. 

The session will be moderated by Marlene Parker, TAJ’s Deputy Commissioner General, Legal Division and Jamaica’s country representative at the OECD. Specially invited guests, members of the media, TAJ Board members and the senior leadership team will gather at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel for the event at 10 a.m. 

Islandwide CSR activities 

This tax week, the tax authority is engaging in a number of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities across the island to include, giving back to the communities within which its offices operate. 

These activities include delivering care packages to children’s homes, staging expos with partner agencies and private sector organizations, as well as hosting treats for the youngest in those communities and the institutions that support them, while interacting with the children and their caregivers. 

TAJ has benefited significantly from the input of its stakeholders, strategic partners and the taxpaying public, to inform many aspects of its operations. It has evolved to remain relevant to the citizenry through its continued investment in its digital capacities, personnel, business processes and infrastructure, Changing The Way It Does Business to continue making an IMPACT through its core values of Integrity Mutual Respect Professionalism Accountability Customer Centricity Team Work