Property Transfer Tax and Stamp Duty

Roy W. Bahl ()

International Studies Program Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU from International Studies Program, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University

Abstract: The stamp duty and property transfer tax in Jamaica yielded less than J$4 billion in revenues in 2003. As a percent of GDP, and as a percent of total taxes raised, there has been a long term decline in revenue from these two sources. However, even though these taxes do not dominate the revenue structure, they often figure prominently in discussions about what is wrong with Jamaica’s tax system. There are many problems with the stamp duty and property transfer tax and there have been calls for their elimination. Why have they been retained? Even at only about 4 percent of total taxes, they account for a significant amount of revenue. In fact, in 2002-2003, revenues from these two taxes were equivalent in amount to 22 percent of collections from the domestic portion of the GCT. Another justification for these taxes is that they plug a hole in a leaky tax enforcement system, and capture some Jamaicans who may escape the income tax net.

Keywords: Jamaica; Property Transfer Tax; Stamp Duty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-acc and nep-pbe
Date: 2004-12-01
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