Requesting entity name
Tax Administration Jamaica
Demand Region
Americas
Demand Sub region
Requesting Country
Jamaica
Requesting entity category
National government
Responsible Division/s
Financing for Sustainable Development Office
Areas of Work
Means of implementation
SDGs
SDG10
SDG12
SDG16
SDG17
Keywords
aggressive tax avoidance; illicit financial flows; tax policy; tax administration; tax treaties; base erosion and profit shifting; international taxation; foreign direct investment
Status
Under consideration
Notes
This proposal for technical assistance will be in response to a request from the Government of Jamaica, through the Executive Office of the Commissioner-General of the Tax Administration Jamaica, expressed in a letter of 30 January 2024 to the Acting Director of the Financing for Sustainable Development Office, Ms. Shari Spiegel. In the letter, the Commissioner General, Mr. Ainsley Powell, expressed that Jamaica was susceptible to illicit financial flows (IFFs) relating to both legal and illegal activities which impacted resources available for sustainable development. He mentioned that Jamaica intended to develop laws and build the capacity of the tax administration with the aim of minimizing and/or eliminating aggressive tax avoidance. To this end, Mr. Powell stated that Jamaica would welcome any assistance that could be provided and would enable tax officials to be equipped with the skills, techniques, and tools, to halt any tax related activity that would negatively impact the public revenue. The Commissioner General then requested for Jamaica to be among a pilot program and received targeted technical assistance to identify and strengthen vulnerabilities in taxation policy and administration. The program in question is DESA’s 16th Tranche of the Development Account (DA) project that aims at contributing to strengthening the capacity of developing countries in identifying and addressing vulnerabilities to aggressive tax avoidance.
Request summary
The Commissioner General of the Tax Administration Jamaica expressed the importance of building the capacity of its officials in the tax administration to minimize and/or eliminate aggressive tax avoidance and lessen the adverse effects of tax non-compliance. Within this context, the Commissioner General made a specific request to FSDO to provide technical assistance to tax officials in aggressive tax avoidance and to detect and strengthen vulnerabilities in taxation policy and administration. In response, FSDO acknowledged the efforts of the government of Jamaica in mitigating such effects of tax non-compliance and address the country’s susceptibility to illicit financial flows, which impact the resources that could be available for sustainable development. FSDO took the note of the Commissioner General’s request for Jamaica to be among the piloting developing countries in DESA’s DA project mentioned above and informed that the Office would liaise with appointed officials in the Tax Administration Jamaica for the purpose of engaging in further discussions and coordination.
Please attach DESA’s response letter/email to the requesting entity through 'Document' field