Dear Editor,
And so the long-expected backtracking has begun. Minister of Finance Audley Shaw has said there will be a delay in the promised $18,000, but that we shouldn’t worry because it will be implemented come hell or high water.
I personally was in the camp that was saying that it sounded nice but needed more explication, because even my inexperienced eyes saw a huge tax gap. So I am pleased that they will take time to work out the kinks before rolling it out.
Most people who voted based on the tax plan may not have been versed in economics and accounts, let alone being able to see through the fog of promises and ask how will it be funded.
A perfect example is our public health system. It was made totally free during the last Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Administration in order to keep promises made during the campaign. The system that was already short-staffed was now totally overburdened; no forward planning was done, it was left to rot, and we have ended up with the present reality.
Before we rush into this tax plan we need to do our maths and have outside sources advise us as to how feasible it is. We need to weigh the pros and cons of the situation and see if it is not only fair, but also equitable, and if it isn’t then scrap it for now.
And that’s where it gets interesting politically. The JLP knows its victory is in no small part tied to this tax plan, and that puts them in a tricky situation. If they realise that implementing the tax plan would derail the country’s meager recovery, then that would force them to think twice, but if the people do not get the relief in the timely manner as promised, then surely that would spell the beginning of the end of this Administration.
This puts the JLP in a really strange situation. If the need arises to scrap the plan, and they act like statesmen and nation-builders, then it could cost them seriously at the polls, while if they act like the power-hungry politicians of old and implement it, the consequences, too, could be damning.
All can agree that tax relief is needed as I’m sure we all agree that good governance is needed. Sometimes statesmen finish last, and nation-builders make the tough decisions because they can see a future. Let’s hope that this Administration takes the role of nation-builders and statesmen, because if they do history will absolve them.
Alexander Scott
alexanderwj.scott@gmail.com
And so the long-expected backtracking has begun. Minister of Finance Audley Shaw has said there will be a delay in the promised $18,000, but that we shouldn’t worry because it will be implemented come hell or high water.
I personally was in the camp that was saying that it sounded nice but needed more explication, because even my inexperienced eyes saw a huge tax gap. So I am pleased that they will take time to work out the kinks before rolling it out.
Most people who voted based on the tax plan may not have been versed in economics and accounts, let alone being able to see through the fog of promises and ask how will it be funded.
A perfect example is our public health system. It was made totally free during the last Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Administration in order to keep promises made during the campaign. The system that was already short-staffed was now totally overburdened; no forward planning was done, it was left to rot, and we have ended up with the present reality.
Before we rush into this tax plan we need to do our maths and have outside sources advise us as to how feasible it is. We need to weigh the pros and cons of the situation and see if it is not only fair, but also equitable, and if it isn’t then scrap it for now.
And that’s where it gets interesting politically. The JLP knows its victory is in no small part tied to this tax plan, and that puts them in a tricky situation. If they realise that implementing the tax plan would derail the country’s meager recovery, then that would force them to think twice, but if the people do not get the relief in the timely manner as promised, then surely that would spell the beginning of the end of this Administration.
This puts the JLP in a really strange situation. If the need arises to scrap the plan, and they act like statesmen and nation-builders, then it could cost them seriously at the polls, while if they act like the power-hungry politicians of old and implement it, the consequences, too, could be damning.
All can agree that tax relief is needed as I’m sure we all agree that good governance is needed. Sometimes statesmen finish last, and nation-builders make the tough decisions because they can see a future. Let’s hope that this Administration takes the role of nation-builders and statesmen, because if they do history will absolve them.
Alexander Scott
alexanderwj.scott@gmail.com