Dear Editor,
I thank the Jamaica Observer for explaining the dangers of the transfer pricing regime, which I knew very little of and, admittedly, still don’t know enough about. I eagerly await the public education campaign from the tax authorities.
However, I know enough to see the danger this unfortunate legislation poses to our economy by further pressuring businesses which are already carrying the burden of keeping Jamaica afloat.
Here is another example of politics getting the pre-eminence over good sense. Instead of doing the hard work to widen the tax net to bring in those not paying taxes, Dr Peter Phillips and the finance ministry find it more palatable to go after those who are already doing more than their fair share.
Jamaican history is replete with examples of legislators putting politics before practical economics. This is why with all the money we have made from such things as the bauxite levy (another example of politics over economics); the billions of dollars in development assistance from multilateral agencies and developed countries, the preferential treatment from countries like Venezuela and the European Union over the past 40 or more years, we have hardly grown more than one per cent.
During that time, it is the faithful businesses which have kept us going as a country, finding every which way to survive against the hostile economic conditions and lunatic State policies. The more creative they have been in trying to survive, the more determined the governments have been in going after their profits, as if profits is still a bad word in this country. But maybe it still is.
The idea that businesses can always and must always pay more tax, hence the transfer pricing regime, is a continuation of this policy of taxing them out of business. The Government will not be satisfied until businesses finally give up or move onto less hostile locations, as is now very likely with the proposed transfer pricing regime.
We’ll see whom they will turn to when businesses begin to fail or disappear from our country. We’ll see how many jobs the State can provide. We’ll see how they will fund public sector employment or the social safety net. We’ll see what will happen to education, health care, national security and the like. We’ll see finally why it is a government that is bankrupt of ideas that puts politics over good sense.
Oliver James Green
greenjean65@gmail.com
I thank the Jamaica Observer for explaining the dangers of the transfer pricing regime, which I knew very little of and, admittedly, still don’t know enough about. I eagerly await the public education campaign from the tax authorities.
However, I know enough to see the danger this unfortunate legislation poses to our economy by further pressuring businesses which are already carrying the burden of keeping Jamaica afloat.
Here is another example of politics getting the pre-eminence over good sense. Instead of doing the hard work to widen the tax net to bring in those not paying taxes, Dr Peter Phillips and the finance ministry find it more palatable to go after those who are already doing more than their fair share.
Jamaican history is replete with examples of legislators putting politics before practical economics. This is why with all the money we have made from such things as the bauxite levy (another example of politics over economics); the billions of dollars in development assistance from multilateral agencies and developed countries, the preferential treatment from countries like Venezuela and the European Union over the past 40 or more years, we have hardly grown more than one per cent.
During that time, it is the faithful businesses which have kept us going as a country, finding every which way to survive against the hostile economic conditions and lunatic State policies. The more creative they have been in trying to survive, the more determined the governments have been in going after their profits, as if profits is still a bad word in this country. But maybe it still is.
The idea that businesses can always and must always pay more tax, hence the transfer pricing regime, is a continuation of this policy of taxing them out of business. The Government will not be satisfied until businesses finally give up or move onto less hostile locations, as is now very likely with the proposed transfer pricing regime.
We’ll see whom they will turn to when businesses begin to fail or disappear from our country. We’ll see how many jobs the State can provide. We’ll see how they will fund public sector employment or the social safety net. We’ll see what will happen to education, health care, national security and the like. We’ll see finally why it is a government that is bankrupt of ideas that puts politics over good sense.
Oliver James Green
greenjean65@gmail.com