Revised Income Tax Relief Act to Facilitate Incentives for US Billion-Dollar Investments

A revised Income Tax Relief (Large Scale Project and Pioneer Industries) Act, 2014, that incentivises investments of US$1 billion or more, is expected to be tabled in Parliament by the end of fiscal year 2022/23, next March.

This was disclosed by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, while speaking during the Invest Jamaica 2022 Business Conference at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in Rose Hall, St James, on Tuesday (November 29).

He said the new regime is designed to create a transparent and automatic fiscal incentive framework, which will appeal to local or foreign investors.

“That [amended] Act will have some provisions in it that allow us to offer investors who are making that kind of commitment to Jamaica… with a minimum level of jobs created, certain benefits; but we’re going to do it in a transparent way. [What] we are saying to you [is], if you have US$1 billion to invest, Jamaica is the place, and we’re going to make you feel welcome,” he told investors.

The Minister said the Act and the accompanying Regulations outlines what the criteria are, adding that “anyone, Jamaican, or Latin American, European, African, Asian, North American, who meets those criteria will benefit”.

Dr. Clarke said consequent on the fact that “what we are going to be giving up will be so significant”, the Act requires that “we lay it out… in Parliament, so everybody is aware”, and that “we count the cost to ensure that this is consistent with our framework, going forward, of fiscal and debt sustainability”.

“We will have a cap on the maximum amount outstanding at any point in time, which gives an incentive to the billion-dollar investors to get in early,” the Minister indicated.

Dr. Clarke advised that the Government already has, in the pipeline, investors who are committed to that level of investment.

The two-day conference, which runs from November 29 to 30, is being hosted by the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank (IBD).

It is being held under the theme ‘Jamaica – The Near-Sure Delivery Hub of the Caribbean’, and aims to position the country as the next global investment destination of choice.

More than 600 representatives from over 50 countries are attending the event.

Source JIS