A series in six parts
The Tax We Already Assessed
A six part series on property tax, collection, and who pays for the difference
Jamaica assesses a property tax, declines to collect it, and cancels it entirely after seven years. Then it closes the gap with taxes everybody pays. This series sets out what that costs, using only records the government publishes, and ends with six things that would change it.
Inside a circle of three miles’ radius over the Negril West End, struck from a point on the West End road a little over half a mile from the Negril Point Lighthouse, 4,878 parcels of land carry J$489.5 million in unpaid property tax. On the thirty first of March 2027 a full year of that expires and cannot be recovered from anybody. On the first of April 2027, the next morning, the General Consumption Tax on tourism accommodation rises from ten percent to fifteen.
Every figure here can be checked by a reader with a laptop. The two sources are the National Land Agency parcel layer and the Tax Administration Jamaica property tax query, and the appendix names the document behind each number.
- Part One Before You Raise the Rate, Collect the Bill Jamaica assesses a property tax it does not collect. It closes the gap with taxes everybody pays. Point one, publish the record
- Part Two The Only Asset You Can Hold for Free Nearly half the land around the Negril Point Lighthouse is held by people five or more years behind on the tax. Holding it costs them almost nothing. After seven years it costs them nothing at all. Point two, rescind the seven year rule
- Part Three Where the Arrears Actually Sit Most of the parcels here are house lots. Most of the land is not. Both facts matter, and they pull in different directions. Point six, make the valuation a route to title
- Part Four Protect the Home. Do Not Protect the Holding. Jamaica needs a homestead rule and a deferral in old age. It does not need to keep subsidizing idle land. Point three, deferment not waiver
- Part Five The Shortage Is Manufactured A market where nearly half the supply sits with people under no pressure to sell is not a market. Everybody who works here pays for that. Point four, summons everyone, prosecute by size
- Part Six Collect It, or Stop Assessing It Five steps, in order of difficulty. The first one is free. Point five, sell the unpaid claim at year two
- Epilogue The Door These Six Points Do Not Close Land can change hands in Jamaica without any land changing hands. When it does, the one moment the state reliably collects never arrives. Outside the platform, the company that never sells
- Appendix Figures Cited, With Sources Every number in the series, with the document it came from, so an editor or a reader can check it before believing it.