Holness tax plan a burden on the poor

THE EDITOR, Sir:

This is an open letter to Andrew Holness and Audley Shaw. I am asking you both to look back at the tax package you have imposed on us Jamaicans, and tell us if you really, really believe that you have:

1) fulfilled your election promises to the people;

2) promoted people 'From Poverty to Prosperity'.

I can even remember the Jamaica Labour Party saying that Jamaicans are paying too much in taxes. Yet the Government, instead of reducing taxes, has increased them. Gas prices have gone up for the last four weeks, except for Wednesday (May 11, 2016) when it was announced that there would be a minimal reduction of 61 cents and bam!, Audley Shaw puts on $7 more per litre on petrol.

The effect of this will increase the cost of transportation, and inevitably, the prices of goods and services. Worse yet, persons who were already below the tax threshold will not be benefiting, but will have to pay the increased prices as a result of the additional taxes.

So, tell me, Mr Holness and Mr Shaw, how will this be 'Poverty to Prosperity'? This is like a cow giving a pail of milk and then kicking it over. The situation is even worse because of the immediacy of the increase.

Come on, Messrs Holness and Shaw, you need to get back to the drawing board. It just goes to prove that your election promise was really a gimmick, a three-card trick.

It was not thought through, so if you have to scrap it, scrap it! Do not burden the poor to make them poorer.

A.R.P.

St Catherine