FINANCIAL ANALYST Colin Steele has come out in support of the Government's decision to impose a consumption tax on fuel.

In an interview with JIS News, Steele said the move to realign the tax structure was more equitable to overburdened PAYE taxpayers.

Steele, who is a member of the board of the Pan Caribbean Financial Group, said he was generally in favour of increasing consumption taxes vis-à-vis payroll taxes. According to Steele, only 300,000 of the 1.1 million workers in Jamaica were in the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) category, with large numbers of persons escaping the tax net.

"This is a much fairer and more equitable system, as it shifts the burden of taxation from the relatively small number of people carrying the tax burden," Steele said.

The financial analyst argued that raising the income-tax threshold and targeting assistance to the vulnerable was the way to go.

He pointed out that a consumption tax on gasolene and other consumption taxes would pull in those who traditionally did not bear their fair share of the tax burden. "So, when we skew taxation towards consumption, large numbers of persons who can afford to pay are forced to do so, while Government can target assistance to those who are most vulnerable," he said.

Steele is also in favour of boosting resources to secondary education, while discontinuing the practice of Government subsidising tertiary education by 80 per cent.

He wants resources to be made available to students through the Students' Loan Bureau, so that they can finance their own tertiary education.

- JIS News