Senator Noel Monteith - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
THE GOVERNMENT has denied that it has plans to impose any fees or tax on pension funds with the new changes to the pension law, which was affirmed in the Senate last night.
Government Senator Noel Monteith, who piloted amendments to the Pensions (Superannuation Funds and Retirement Schemes) Act and its Regulations, made the disclosure.
"... Let me start out ... to make it absolutely clear that the Financial Services Commission will not, and I repeat, will not be imposing any tax on pension funds as was alleged in the two daily newspapers," he said.
The Gleaner had carried a report quoting William McConnell, a member of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) committee studying the reforms, as saying that fees proposed under the changes to the pension law would amount to a new tax on retirees.
ASSIST PENSIONERS
But Monteith explained that the new changes under the law would assist the pensioners.
He said the purpose of the regulations is for registering existing superannuation funds and retirement schemes and licensing their related providers.
"They set out the detailed requirements, which must be satisfied before a certificate of registration or licence can be granted, and also prescribe the form of these documents," he said.
Some of the other changes, he said, which would be implemented to regulate these schemes, were that trustees and investment managers would no longer be required to file reporting forms.
"The remaining reporting forms, when aggregated, have been significantly reduced and consolidated to a total of some 26 pages from approximately 85 pages," he said.
Additionally, the application forms for the registration of superannuation funds or retirement schemes have been amended to require certification by a quorum of trustees instead of an attorney-at law.
D.R.
