THE GOVERNMENT has imposed a range of user fees at the Jamaica Customs Department, measures to increase the levy on lottery games, unspecified increases in traffic fines and licensing fees as part of the overall process to raise $8.9 billion to plug the gap in the budget.
The new charges will see a $50,000 annual licensing fee being applied to operators of at least three public bonded warehouses in Kingston and a fourth in Montego Bay.
There will also be an annual licensing fee of $25,000 for the operation of each private bonded warehouse, an increase in brokers' licensing fee from $6,000 annually to $15,000 for corporate bodies, $10,000 for conditional licences for companies and $10,000 for individuals.
In a Ministry Paper on measures to enhance revenue tabled in Parliament on Thursday, the Ministry of Finance also imposed a flat rate of $500 for Customs' processing of import documents with 10 or less entries, and $5 for each additional entry keyed in by Customs, as well as a processing fee of $500 for each diskette received.
Finance and Planning Minister Dr. Omar Davies, who promised there would be no new taxes in the budget for fiscal year 2002/2003, did not outline the new fees during his budget presentation.
He told Parliament that in looking at the entire public sector, there were several areas where services were provided either free or for a token charge. However, Dr. Davies said he would allow the respective ministry or agency to propose the necessary legislative and administrative changes to implement cost recovery.
The Ministry Paper said the fees were being imposed against the background that the Customs Department has been providing free of charge, processing of applications for licences and providing facilitatory services; providing data entry services for brokers and importers who did not have computers, as well as providing services for brokers who did not use e-mail facilities but provide information on diskettes.
Responding to the imposition of the new user fees yesterday, President of the Customs Brokers Association of Jamaica (CBAJ), Hendricks Porter, said it would mean increased costs of warehouse handling fees for consumers, since the operators of the warehouses would have to pass on the added costs.
As part of the measures to increase Government revenues, Supreme Ventures, which operates the "Lucky 5" and "Cash Pot" lottery games, will also pay higher taxes as a result of a reduction in the amount they will pay out in prizes.
The Ministry Paper said the levy paid from the lottery games is 17 per cent of net sales, after deducting prize liability. The prize currently being paid out for those games are 51 per cent and 72 per cent of the net sales respectively. The Government has proposed that the payout for "Lucky 5" be reduced to 50 per cent, and that for "Cash Pot" be reduced to 70 per cent. This means that the 17 per cent tax on the company's sales will be applied to a higher sales figure, which translates into a higher dollar value for taxation. The 60 per cent pay out for "Pick 3", which is operated by the Jamaica Lottery Company, will remain at 60 per cent.
