No taxes? No problems!

Can you imagine a world where no one paid taxes? In a perfect world the cost of the item would be the one marked on the price tag.  Imagine taking home more money in your pay cheque!

Why do we need to pay taxes anyway?

Taxes -Importance

Taxes take many forms. When you work at a job to make money, you pay income taxes. Depending on how much money you make, a certain percentage of the money you make is kept out of your paycheck and sent to the government.

When you buy things at a store, you also usually pay sales tax, which is a percentage of the cost of the item charged by the store. If you own property, you also pay property taxes on the value of your property.

Tax money helps to ensure the roads you travel on are well-maintained. Of course here in Jamaica it might be hard to see where our tax dollars go but there are a number of programmes that are run by the government that depend on the collection of taxes.

For example taxes are used to fund schools, public libraries and parks as well as to pay government workers such as teachers and nurses.

No Tax?

Regardless of how necessary taxes are, it certainly hurts our pockets when we have to pay it.  However, there is good news on the horizon for certain sections of the society.

Effective July 1 there will be an increase in the personal income tax threshold, as it moves from $592,800 to $1,000,272.

This means that the tax savings for persons earning a million dollars or more per annum, will receive tax savings of  $8,489 monthly, $3,918 fortnightly, while those paid weekly will receive tax savings of $1,959.

Additional Tax

Earners in excess of $6 million will also begin to pay an additional five per cent on the personal income tax, moving the tax rate from 25 per cent to 30 per cent.

That is certainly good news! Well at least it is if you earn under the new tax threshold!

No tax? No problems!  What’s your take on the issue?

Let me hear from you!

Teri Ann Renee Paisley

Gleaner Online Writer

Tags: taxes