$1.5 Million Income Tax Threshold for all PAYE Workers

The income tax threshold for all Pay As You Earn (PAYE) workers will be increased from $592,800 to $1.5 million, to be implemented in two phases.

As a result, some 251,000 PAYE workers will benefit from the increased threshold.

Effective July 1, 2016, the first phase of the personal income tax threshold will increase to $1,000,272.

The second phase of the increase will result in a personal income tax threshold of $1.5 million, effective April 1, 2017.

This was announced by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, as he opened the 2016/17 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives on May 12. His presentation was themed: ‘Partnership For Economic Growth’.

“Right now there are 426,000 persons on the PAYE roll, but 125,000 are off it because they are below $592,800. In making this a threshold for everybody, it’s no longer 118,000 people that will benefit; it will now be 251,000 people. This is 133,000 more persons who will benefit,” the Minister pointed out.

He noted that the cost to the budget for the fiscal year 2016/17 is estimated at $12.5 billion.

The Minister also announced that the income tax rate of 25 per cent will be increased to 30 per cent for persons earning $6 million and more.