WAYNE JONES, head of the Jamaica Civil Service Association (JCSA), has accused the Government of not considering the devastating impact the latest $21.8-billion tax package will have on Jamaicans.

Furthermore, he said, the Bruce Golding administration will not be able to collect the expected revenue.

According to Jones, increased poverty and deprivation will result from the tax package.

He said most members of the civil service had reacted negatively to the tax package.

"(There is) disappointment that once again, the Government seems to believe the answer to our problems lies in taxing people more," he said. "Obviously, taxation is a part of our normal lives, but there has to be some more intellectual rigour brought to the question of taxation policies," added Jones.

He said members of the civil service would have to meet to formulate a plan as to how they would cope with the new taxes, in addition to a further freeze on wages.

"We envisage that people are going to get more impoverished," he said.

"You're talking about increasing the tax rate on a reducing national income with more than 40,000 persons in the society having lost their jobs over the past year, with many of them who still have jobs having a reduced work week, with many who have jobs, like in the public sector, having not had an increase over the last year. It certainly means that the base is shrinking."

mind-boggling decision

Jones said it was mind-boggling how the Government could make the decision to increase the tax rate on a reducing base.

"I don't know how the two things work together, and I don't know how the Government would have come to that conclusion," he said.

The civil service head said he hoped the Government would engage the country and come together to have discussions on how to get the country out of its current problems.

"This is not just the Government's problem, it is not just the public-sector problem, it is a societal problem.