Tax Offices to be Built, Renovated

The Government is investing in the construction and renovation of tax offices across Jamaica.

The objective is to improve the ease of doing business and create more comfortable spaces for staff and clients.

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, who made the disclosure while opening the 2023/24 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (March 7), said “over a number of years, we plan to upgrade tax offices across Jamaica to provide a more comfortable, timely and efficient experience.”

Providing details about the projects to be undertaken, Dr. Clarke said that in St. James, Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) is on track to sign a contract for the upgrading and modernisation of the Montego Bay Revenue Service Centre in the first half of the next fiscal year.

The facility will feature the first ever drive-thru teller, which will save customers time and provide them with a greater level of convenience.

The building will be made fully accessible to all visitors, including those with disabilities, and will include the installation of ramps, elevator, and accessible restrooms, he told the House.

Over in Manchester, the TAJ plans to begin building out the interior of the new Mandeville Revenue Centre within a few months, with the facility to be available to the public in the middle of fiscal year 2024/25.

Additionally, Dr. Clarke said the Christiana tax office in the parish, for which he broke ground recently, will be a modern facility with green space, adequate parking, a generator, underground water storage and a comfortable interior for the public.

In St. Ann, land has been purchased to build a new tax office in Brown’s Town, and TAJ plans to begin construction in 2024/25.

Dr. Clarke told the House that TAJ has acquired the previous BNS head office in downtown Kingston, which will be renovated to accommodate taxpayer services now being carried out at the entity’s King’s Street location.

These include cashiering, Taxpayer Registration Number (TRN), general information, driver’s licences, and compliance.

He said TAJ will retain the building’s external façade, but will remodel the interior to meet the modern functional flow of a tax office.

TAJ is going through the design phases now for work to start in 2024 and for the location to be open to the public in 2025.

The entity will collaborate with the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and the Kingston and St. Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) to ensure that sufficient parking is available.

In relation to the Cross Roads tax office, which accounts for a large volume of transactions, the TAJ plans to build a 10-storey office and business centre, with three floors for parking to meet the growing needs of citizens.

TAJ is now finalising the building’s design and drawings, and is aiming to make the submission to Cabinet for final approval in the new fiscal year.