Municipal Authorities Will Be First on SPEED Agenda – PM Holness

Prime Minister, Dr. the Hon. Andrew Holness, says the municipal authorities will be the first to receive attention as Government moves to reduce bureaucratic hurdles under the Streamlining Processes for Efficiency and Economic Development (SPEED) programme.

“I have appointed a Minister, [Senator the Hon.] Ambassador Audrey Marks to focus on that. Her mandate is to undertake a comprehensive review of Jamaica’s governance arrangements, systems and processes and to implement targeted reforms across the whole of government that will eliminate inefficiencies, reduce bureaucracy and enhance the ease and speed of doing business,” Dr. Holness said.

He was delivering the keynote address at the Manchester Chamber of Commerce awards banquet at Bloomfield Professional Centre in Mandeville on Saturday (March 29) under the theme: ‘Shielding Our Businesses, Recognising Excellence in 2024.’

SPEED is part of the broader effort to modernise the public sector and boost productivity.

Noting that the objective is to create an environment in which businesses can flourish, Dr. Holness said that many businesspeople face bureaucratic hurdles particularly in accessing permits and approvals, and the SPEED initiative will seek to eliminate these barriers.

“Our parish councils are absolutely important to the local economy in how fast they facilitate business and investment, and we will ensure that our parish councils move in concert with business. This will ensure that businesses that are ready to invest are not inhibited and hampered,” he noted.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister highlighted measures introduced by Government to incentivise business, including supporting capital investments in the productive sector.

Accelerated capital allowances are now in place for investments undertaken between January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2026, in productive assets such as industrial and commercial buildings, plants, machinery and information technology (IT).

“Before the accelerated capital allowances were introduced, 28 per cent of eligible expenditure incurred on concrete industrial buildings could be written off for tax purposes in the first two years, with four per cent per year thereafter. With this new accelerated allowance, 66 per cent can be written off over the same two-year period and five and a half per cent per year thereafter,” he explained.

Dr. Holness urged members of the private sector to make use of the opportunity, noting that now is the time to retool and reinvest in their businesses.

Plans that were earmarked for two to three years from now, could be brought forward to take advantage of the support and incentives being offered through the accelerated capital allowance, he pointed out.

“We are also reducing the burden on Micro Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) by increasing the annual turnover threshold for mandatory General Consumption Tax (GCT) registration from $10 million to $15 million. Small businesses whose annual sales are below this threshold will no longer have the burden of filing GCT returns if they find it beneficial to do so,” he said.

Another incentive to doing business in Jamaica, is that the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) now has the option to include upfront fees that borrowers have to pay into the loan amount, so that they can be paid over time and not be an immediate cash burden on the business.

Another initiative is the Special Arrears Settlement Programme to encourage taxpayers with outstanding taxes to clear their principal balances by March 31, 2025, thereby having interest penalties and surcharges waived.

Dr. Holness said he has been receiving many requests to have this facility extended, and he will be making an announcement in this regard on Monday (March 31).