Too much tax

[Assasin]

The other day Mosiah was asking if there is a point when we paying too much tax.

This is a serious question. My opinion is if we are getting the service for our taxes then it is not too much. The problem with Jamaica is we are only getting debt service for our dollar.

If the people of Jamaica was getting water, road repair, houses, light, healthcare, water, emergency services and better government service, along with education then pay even up to 50% in taxes would be ok.

Many of the country in the Nordic like Switerland etc. charge very high taxes and nobody is complaining as they get the service. When you have a kid born you get 1 year off. You don't pay no school fee, no book fee, and nothing else, kids just go a school. You nuh have to worry about new front end for your car or shocks, you just worry bout driving.

The British labour government is trying to make the top rate for taxes in the UK 50%. I don't know what it is now but that I read on BBC.

What if instead of borrowing so much we had a decent tax rate that would not have put us in this debt? One of the serious problem is where is all this borrowed money? We have to demand quality service for our dollar and smart think leaders.

[Jawge]

This is really a waste of space. You are not
serious in comparing Ja to these countries. You are simply grasping at straws.

[Assasin]

who should we compare with Haiti?

[Jawge]

You are right I'm wrong.
As you say forward;Ja is on its way to progress and prosperity.

[Gamma]

one would think that you are used to this by now.....

[Hortical]

Jamaica also needs more efficient collection of taxes. The underground economy is too large, and so yuh have less paying the bulk of the taxes.

[Assasin]

question is how are you going to do that when it is seen as hurting the poor?
broading the tax base means collecting from taxi drivers, hair dressers, higglers, and others so the government is always "wicked" in doing it.

[Peter R]

What I find disturbing is the small man (here in T&T) charging MORE than Hi Lo for a loaf of bread and then not remitting any VAT (GCT) and I'm willing to bet any money, well a few hundred dollars, that their gross sales exceeds the VAT registration requirement threshold.

What it does is breed a healthy disrespect for the law, but it isn't the small man's fault. It really is the laissez-faire attitude to tax collection.

As Assasin points out paying taxes is not a problem if a reasonable level of services is provided. Maybe they some feel they're not getting anything for it so why pay?

[Assasin]

you right. A hear one Taximan on a call in program in Jamaica say when them say pay your tax, him went up at the tax office as they said he would get help.

When he went there he said he was in line for a long time and them tell him him need an accountant so him say a too much trouble fi him and him nuh have money fi pay accountant.

I see a old retired barber who went to get some help in Ja but because he didn't pay tax all these year he can only get the very basic of pension that the government offers. He said if he had known he would have contributed some money to the system.

[Peter R]

Businesses like taxi and small shop owners should pay some reasonable amount of tax. If not GCT then a separate small business tax...cah none a dem nah declare no income (if at all) above the taxable threshold.

[Assasin]

Just get rid of the bus park Don and pay it to the government and get some service in return.

[Islandman]

That in itself is one of the problems, our categorization of who is "the poor".

We see the hair dressers, taximen, fishermen , higglers etc as poor when in reality the successful ones earn more than many PAYE people who dress up inna uniform every day going to thier office job as secretary, receptionist, etc. And they are the ones who face the full brunt of the tax man.

We really need to overhail the system abd set some examples of a few high profile people. If the doctors and lawyers who anybody can find easily not paying, how in the world we going to expect the taximan and the hairdresser to pay.