PNP distances itself from Damion Crawford's GCT increase proposal

The People's National Party (PNP) says Senator Damion Crawford's suggestion for an increase in the general consumption tax (GCT) to fund education does not represent the party's position. 

The opposition party's clarification follows criticisms from the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), which has urged Jamaicans to pay attention to the potential for new taxes under any future PNP administration. 

A one percentage point increase in GCT would yield $25 billion in revenue, said Senator Crawford at a Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools conference in Trelawny on the weekend. 

But the PNP says Crawford's comments were made "in the context of exploring different ideas and were not a reflection of the official position of the PNP". 

"It is important to state unequivocally that the PNP has neither discussed nor contemplated the introduction of any additional or new taxes. Our party understands the burden that increased taxation would impose on our citizens, especially at a time when the cost of living has been increasing intolerably and mere survival is a daily struggle for most Jamaicans," it said in a statement on Wednesday afternoon. 

Noting what it calls "the success of the post-2012 fiscal reforms", the party said it "firmly believes that there are sufficient resources within the government's current budget to better invest in the education sector". 

"Government's tax intake has increased year after year at rates significantly exceeding inflation, thereby rendering increases in tax rates unnecessary," it said. 

It added: "We are committed to prioritising and reallocating existing resources to ensure that education receives the attention and funding it needs, without introducing new taxes," it added. 

Richard Creary, a deputy general secretary for the ruling JLP, has dismissed Crawford's proposal and urged Jamaicans to "take careful note of the PNP spokesman's call for a tax increase".

"The Jamaica Labour Party is proud of its record of not imposing any new taxes on Jamaicans over the past eight years," noted a statement from Creary on Wednesday.

It said: "Jamaicans should not return to the days where the PNP heaped billions of dollars of taxes on the backs of the Jamaican people and pursued policies which devastated the people but greatly benefited a few politically connected individuals". 

JLP's Creary's rejects Crawford's proposal for GCT increase to fund education

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