A review of the Government’s revenue estimates indicates that the Andrew Holness administration intends to increase its tax intake by $62 billion this fiscal year.

Of significance is that the Government is projecting to rake in $15 billion from General Consumption Tax, while an additional $6 billion is expected to be realised from Special Consumption Tax. A government source said that the tax authorities have been mandated to pursue an aggressive tax-compliance campaign to collect unpaid revenues.

In this regard, the Government will also be stepping up its efforts to drag delinquent taxpayers into the net, earmarking an increase of nearly $20 billion in income taxes, while company taxes are forecast to increase by $4 billion.

Travel tax is anticipated to pull in $3.4 billion more, while revenue from passenger levy is projected to increase by $1.1 billion.

The Government will also be targeting increased revenues from import duties this year as it targets an increase of $4 billion.

The Government is proposing to increase public spending by nearly 20 per cent in the 2017-2018 financial year, representing an increase of almost 20 per cent over the $592.7 billion it spent for the previous fiscal year.

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