IN JAMAICA: ‘Withdraw the tax’ Andrew Holness warns Gov’t, says Opposition will resist transaction tariff.....concerned that the tax would open the door to other "brazen and thoughtless tax impositions under the guise of passing some IMF test.

BY BALFORD HENRY Senior staff reporter balfordh@jamaicaobserver.com  Friday, April 25, 2014    

Andrew Holness yesterday told the Government that its intention to introduce the new financial transactions tax was a point of departure between the Administration and the Opposition, and advised the prime minister to withdraw it.

Andrew Holness

"Prime Minister, withdraw the tax, or else," Holness told Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller across the aisle as he made his contribution to the 2014/15 budget debate at Gordon House.

Holness said that the Opposition was concerned that the tax would open the door to other "brazen and thoughtless tax impositions under the guise of passing some IMF test.

"It would be irresponsible of the Opposition to merely say we oppose the tax. We will resist the tax. This is now a point of departure," he said.

"Prime Minister, you claim to be looking out for the interest of the poor and vulnerable. In today's Jamaica, the poor and vulnerable use banks and ATMs. Remember, they have to cash their PATH cheques; they have to take their remittances from accounts they were encouraged to open," he insisted.

But, while the opposition leader was giving his warning inside the Parliament, there was speculation outside that the Government may be softening its position on imposing the controversial tax measure, which will affect consumers' withdrawals from deposit-taking institutions through electronic banking, point-of-sale transactions (debit/credit cards), cheques, Internet transfers and transactions involving ABMs/ATMs. more