Prime Minister Bruce Golding, while being interviewed on a current affairs programme on Sunday, hosted by journalist Ian Boyne, stated that because of the shortfall in government inflow of revenues of some $10 billion for the current fiscal year, the Government will shortly be imposing additional taxes on the already suffering citizens of this country.

The prime minister is a totally confused leader who has all his priorities wrong. It was reported sometime ago that some 80 per cent of business operators within the country are not paying any taxes at all, while others are evading the tax authorities on a yearly basis, thus causing the country to be losing more than $50 billion in taxes per year. It is the PAYE persons who pay the most taxes in this country, while the majority of business owners are not paying any form of business tax at all and are robbing the country of this well-needed tax revenue each year.

Make business owners pay

Why don't the prime minister and Minister of Finance Audley Shaw put in place the necessary measures to ensure that all those business owners who are not paying their taxes do so in the shortest possible time? Every Jamaican citizen must pay their fair share of taxes, whether one is an employer or an employee, each person must comply with the tax laws of the country. This is the relevant area that Mr Golding and Mr Shaw need to tackle expeditiously, so that the Government can get the correct amount of taxes that is due to them each year.

All those persons who refuse to pay the correct amount of taxes should be dealt with harshly by the tax court and the Inland Revenue Department and be prosecuted to the full extent of the tax laws. The people of this country cannot at this time take any further tax increase and a tax increase is not necessary and warranted at this point in time.

Taxes have already been increased two times since the start of the year and it would be scandalous, to say the least, if the Government were to again increase taxes on the poor people of this country. Why not tax all those persons who have investment in government securities? Why not cut the number of persons who are employed to the public sector? For the Government-operated public sector is massively overstaffed and costing the Government too much funds from paying salaries to them.

Dismiss consultants

Why doesn't the prime minister dismiss all those high-paying consultants who are employed to the various government ministries, totally unwarranted at this time? Prime Minister Golding seems to be a confused and disorganised head of government who has no clue as how to get the productive sector producing at a high level across the country. The country needs economic expansion and widespread production of varying products throughout the country, and new businesses need to be formed to reduce the unemployment rate, which is very high.

Where are the necessary financial incentives from Government to the private sector to encourage the formation of new small businesses within the country? It is the vast numbers of small businesses that are operating all across the United States that are responsible for driving the economy and expansion of the economy each year in that country. Here in Jamaica, the policies that have been put into place by the current JLP regime are preventing and hindering the formation of small businesses across the country, hence, we have at this time a high inflation and unemployment rate spiralling out of control with an incompetent administration.

I am, etc.,

RICHARD L. TOMLINSON,

MBA,

drtomlinson22@hotmail.com

Montego Bay, St James