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.
| Item | What the record shows | Source |
|---|---|---|
| The study area | A circle of three miles' radius over the Negril West End, Westmoreland. Its center is a point on the West End road approximately 0.58 miles from the Negril Point Lighthouse, so the Lighthouse lies well inside the circle but is not its center. Every figure attributed to the three mile radius counts the 4,878 parcels inside that circle carrying a valid eleven digit valuation number. The innermost mile referred to in several parts is the 370 parcels within one mile of the same center. Distances stated from the Lighthouse are therefore approximate and the Lighthouse is used as a landmark, not as the origin of the measurement. | Author's parcel register, built from National Land Agency parcel boundaries in the Jamaica Grid projection, EPSG:3448; Negril Point Lighthouse located per Jamaica National Heritage Trust |
| GCT on tourism accommodation | Rises from 10 percent to the standard 15 percent effective 1 April 2027. Projected yield J$11.4 billion in 2027/28. It takes effect a year after the rest of the 2026/27 package. PwC records the stated rationale as allowance for recovery, the sector having already sold rooms for 2026/27 while still recovering from Hurricane Melissa. Note: no published source shows a prior April 2026 start date that was reversed, so do not describe it as deferred from 2026. | Ministry of Finance revenue measures, FY2026/27; PwC Jamaica preliminary budget review, 12 February 2026; Jamaica Information Service |
| Tourism earnings and arrivals | Approximately 2.3 million visitors and US$2.4 billion in earnings between 1 January and 11 July 2025, stated by the Minister of Tourism. The tourism sector grew 2 percent in the first quarter of 2025, contributing to a 1 percent rise in overall economic performance that quarter. Quoted here only to establish that tourism is the country's principal earner; no share of GDP figure is claimed, because STATIN publishes none for the relevant indicator. | Jamaica Information Service, 11 July 2025, reporting the Minister of Tourism |
| Total tax revenue FY2026/27 | J$979.388 billion projected. General Consumption Tax J$329.637 billion. Income tax J$342.127 billion. Special Consumption Tax J$97.270 billion. Customs duty J$77.916 billion. Education tax J$55.771 billion. Environmental levy J$10.375 billion. | PwC Jamaica preliminary 2026/27 budget review |
| Other 2026/27 measures | SCT on sweetened beverages at J$0.02 per milliliter, J$10.1 billion. SCT on alcohol from J$1,230 to J$1,400 per liter of pure alcohol, J$1.6 billion. SCT on cigarettes from J$17 to J$20 per stick, J$1.1 billion. Environmental levy from 0.5 to 0.8 percent with the base widened from 75 to 100 percent of sales, J$3.639 billion per the Jamaica Information Service (PwC prints J$3.369 billion; the JIS figure is the one that reconciles to the total, so cite JIS). Also motor vehicle duty concession amendment J$1.3 billion and GCT on digital services J$0.3 billion in 2026/27 rising to J$4.2 billion in 2027/28. Total new measures J$29.439 billion. | Jamaica Information Service, Gov't Projects $29.4B From New Revenue Measures |
| National property tax arrears | At May 2014, J$13.5 billion outstanding across 631,170 accounts, being 79 percent of the 797,880 properties on the roll. Arrears by parish ranged from 75 percent in Westmoreland to 83 percent in Manchester. Separately, the total obligation for FY2015/16, being current year liability plus accumulated arrears, was J$15.29 billion, against which J$6.51 billion was collected. The two figures measure different things and should not be presented as a trend. | Auditor General's Department, performance audit: Tax Administration of Jamaica, Property Tax Collections and Enforcement |
| Write offs and compliance | J$3.26 billion written off across FY2011/12 to FY2015/16, being tax that fell due between FY2004/05 and FY2008/09. Obligation based compliance averaged 45 percent. Property based compliance fell 29 percent, to 45.5 percent by FY2015/16. 28,489 summonses prepared over five years, 20,018 served. | Auditor General's Department, as above |
| The seven year rule | Section 21(3) of the Tax Collection Act provides that the tax is not recoverable from any person except within seven years of falling due, and that after seven years the charge or lien on the real property is extinguished. This is a statutory limitation with automatic extinguishment, not a discretionary write off. The Tax Administration Jamaica public query displays a rolling seven year window for that reason. | Auditor General's Department; Tax Administration Jamaica property tax query |
| Cost of administering property tax | Approximately 0.3 percent of revenue collected, against 3.4 percent for income tax. Compliance burden on business approximately 16 percent of tax paid, against 20 percent for income tax. Verified through the Observer's citation of the CAPRI study In Search of the Most Efficient Tax for Jamaica, October 2018. Obtain the primary report before publication. | Caribbean Policy Research Institute, 2018, cited in the Jamaica Observer, 1 April 2026 |
| Valuations and revaluation | Property tax is currently assessed on the 2013 valuation roll, values struck as at 1 July 2013 and adopted for the 2017/18 tax period. The National Land Agency began revaluing some 900,000 parcels on 1 July 2026 and expects completion within about 20 months, which points to new bills from FY2028/29. The Minister of Finance earlier indicated FY2027/28. | Jamaica Observer, 1 April 2026, quoting Minister of Finance Fayval Williams |
| What property tax funds | Solid waste collection and disposal, street lighting, parks and gardens, parochial road rehabilitation, minor water supply, and council administration. Property tax accounts for over 30 percent of local authority budgets and is their single largest revenue source. | Local Authorities of Jamaica |
| Hurricane Melissa | Total loss and damage estimated by the government at J$1.952 trillion. The World Bank and the Inter American Development Bank estimated physical damage at US$8.8 billion; the two figures use different methodologies and should not be compared without saying so. Jamaica secured a package of US$6.7 billion over three years in international support. As at August 2026 roughly 5,648 hotel rooms, about 28 percent of the room stock damaged by Melissa, had not returned to service and about 14 hotels remained closed. Occupancy approximately 27 percent at smaller hotels and 44 percent at larger properties. These figures move monthly and several large properties have since reopened, so date them on the page. | Jamaica Information Service; International Monetary Fund, 1 December 2025; Jamaica Gleaner, 3 August 2026, quoting JHTA president O'Brian Heron |
| Negril: three mile radius | 4,878 parcels across 7,480.8 acres carrying J$489,558,889 in outstanding property tax. 2,593 parcels, being 53 percent, are two or more years in arrears. 733 have no registered title. 754 carry an owner mailing address outside Jamaica: 411 United States, 94 Canada, 90 United Kingdom. | Author's own register, compiled from National Land Agency parcel records and the Tax Administration Jamaica public property tax query, September 2026 |
| Negril: one mile radius | 370 parcels across 1,289.8 acres carrying J$117,970,598 outstanding. 163 have no registered title. | Author's own register, as above |
| Aged arrears, three miles | Splitting the J$489,558,889 by the year it fell due: 2026/27 J$105.7m (21.6%), 2025/26 J$87.7m (17.9%), 2024/25 J$78.0m (15.9%), 2023/24 J$62.7m (12.8%), 2022/23 J$58.1m (11.9%), 2021/22 J$51.0m (10.4%), 2020/21 J$46.5m (9.5%). Method: each parcel's balance divided evenly across its unpaid years and allocated from its oldest unpaid year forward, which is sound because valuations have not moved since 2013 and so the annual charge is flat. The allocation reconciles to the register total exactly. | Author's own register, 19 September 2026 |
| Extinguished each year | The Auditor General published the only national series that exists: property tax written off under section 21(3) was J$0.79bn in FY2011/12, J$0.64bn in FY2012/13, J$0.64bn in FY2013/14, J$0.61bn in FY2014/15 and J$0.58bn in FY2015/16, totalling J$3.26bn, each being one cohort year ageing out. Nothing has been published for any year since FY2015/16. Modelled estimate for the present day, from the three mile register scaled two ways: roughly J$1.5bn to J$3bn a year nationally. Treat as an estimate and put the question to Tax Administration Jamaica. | Auditor General's Department, Table 4; author's model |
| What is published, by year | Property tax collected: FY2011/12 J$2.53bn, FY2012/13 J$2.81bn, FY2013/14 J$5.84bn, FY2014/15 J$7.45bn, FY2015/16 J$6.51bn, all from the Auditor General. FY2016/17 J$7.6bn and FY2017/18 about 88 percent of a J$9.6bn target, both from press reporting. FY2023/24: J$9.306bn of property tax transferred to the municipal corporations against a budget of J$10.536bn, from the PEFA assessment, which is net of deductions and therefore a floor rather than a total. Nothing at all for FY2018/19 through FY2022/23 or FY2024/25 onward. Extinguished under section 21(3): the five figures to FY2015/16 and nothing since. Outstanding: J$13.5bn at May 2014 across 631,170 accounts, and a J$15.29bn total obligation for FY2015/16 with a parish table. Nothing since, and no published ageing by year of origin at any time. | Auditor General 2016; Jamaica PEFA assessment, September 2024; press |
| Property tax in the national accounts | The revenue estimates carry the head Land and Property Tax at zero and drop it entirely after FY2016/17, because property tax goes to the Parochial Revenue Fund rather than the Consolidated Fund. The only property tax line in the estimates is Property Tax (2.5%), a collection commission: J$150m estimated for FY2016/17 rising to J$258.4m for FY2026/27. The base on which it is computed is not stated in any document found, so it must not be grossed up in print. | Ministry of Finance revenue estimates, FY2016/17 to FY2026/27 |
| The document that would answer this | The PEFA assessment cites, by name, a TAJ Revenue Arrears FY2023/24 Aging report as the source for its arrears table. That report is compiled annually and ages arrears. It is the correct target for an Access to Information request, together with the annual total extinguished under section 21(3) by financial year since FY2016/17. An aggregate figure carries no personal data, so the usual privacy exemption does not apply. | Jamaica PEFA assessment, September 2024, Table 19.4 |
| Land held by delinquency | Within three miles: 7,480.8 acres across 4,878 researched parcels. Taxes fully current, 1,488 parcels, 1,585.3 acres, 21.2 percent. One to four years behind, 1,828 parcels, 2,244.1 acres, 30.0 percent. Five or six years behind, 352 parcels, 1,461.0 acres, 19.5 percent. All seven years unpaid, 1,210 parcels, 2,190.3 acres, 29.3 percent. Five or more years behind in total: 1,562 parcels, 3,651.4 acres, 48.8 percent. Restricted to holdings of an acre or more: 268 parcels, 3,404.3 acres, 45.5 percent, of which 871.6 acres lie within one mile, 681.9 acres between one and two miles and 1,847.4 acres between two and three miles. | Author's own register, 19 September 2026 |
| Cost of holding land idle | On the 268 blocks of an acre or more that are five or more years behind: total assessed unimproved value J$4.82bn, total arrears J$241.8m, being 5.01 percent of that value accumulated over five to seven years. Implied annual charge J$37.9m, being 0.79 percent of assessed land value a year. Median block 2.35 acres with an annual charge of about J$43,000. Those blocks are assessed at about J$1.42m an acre; parcels whose taxes are current are assessed at about J$4.50m an acre. | Author's own register, 19 September 2026 |
| Housing illustration | A tenth of the 871.6 idle acres within one mile, developed at eight homes to the acre, is about 700 homes. At six homes to the acre it is about 520. Stated as an order of magnitude only. It assumes nothing about planning consent, infrastructure, water or title, each of which is a real constraint. | Author's calculation, assumptions stated on their face |
| New York pied a terre tax | Enacted 2026, effective 1 July 2026, sunsets 30 June 2031 unless extended. Surcharges residential property that is not the owner's primary residence. Phase one to 30 June 2028: Class 1 homes above US$5m at 0.8 to 1.3 percent, condominiums and cooperatives above US$1m at 4 to 6.5 percent. From July 2028 a single US$5m threshold at 0.8 to 1.3 percent. Primary residence means occupied by the owner or let on a bona fide arm's length lease of at least one year to a natural person. The Department of Finance makes an initial determination and requires the owner to supply proof; if the owner does not respond within the deadline the determination becomes final and cannot be challenged. Projected revenue US$500m, with the City Comptroller estimating US$340m to US$380m. | Holland & Knight and Sullivan & Cromwell client alerts, June and July 2026; New York City Comptroller |
| Property tax as a first charge | Section 21(1) of the Tax Collection Act declares duties, rates and taxes on houses or lands to be a first charge and lien on those houses and lands. Section 4 of that Act deals with the powers of assistants to a Collector of Taxes and must not be cited for this. That the charge ranks expressly ahead of a registered mortgage and follows the title into a purchaser's hands is an arguable legal conclusion rather than the words of the section, and should be stated as conveyancing practice, not as statute. Caveats against dealings are provided for by section 139 of the Registration of Titles Act, with the Registrar able to lodge on behalf of the Crown under section 15(c). Paying another person's property tax creates no lien and no right of reimbursement for a stranger to the title. | Tax Collection Act; Registration of Titles Act |
| Tax sale powers | UNRESOLVED AND NOT TO BE ASSERTED WITHOUT A PRIMARY CHECK. A Tax Collection (Amendment) Act reported in February 2015 was to take effect 1 April 2015, permitting sale after three years of non payment, with press reporting at the time that any person would be allowed to bid. No source found confirms that the bidding provisions were never brought into force or that the Commissioner of Lands is the only permitted bidder. Confirm the commencement notice with the Ministry of Finance or Tax Administration Jamaica before publication. Separately confirmed: the Coopers Pen property in Trelawny, more than 260 acres, J$26.3 million owed, annual tax J$3.4 million, land valued at J$390 million, reported still unsold in August 2026. | Jamaica Gleaner, 25 February 2015 and 24 August 2026; commencement status to be confirmed with the Ministry of Finance |
| Transfer of shares versus land | Since 1 April 2019 a transfer of land attracts transfer tax at 2 percent with stamp duty at a flat J$5,000. A transfer of shares in a Jamaican company attracts transfer tax at 2 percent, with stamp duty of J$100 or J$5,000 per document depending on value, assessed by Tax Administration Jamaica on an instrument of transfer. The rates are therefore the same; the difference is that a share transfer executed outside Jamaica, in a company incorporated outside Jamaica, produces no Jamaican instrument to assess and no Jamaican register of members to amend. | Tax Administration Jamaica, Stamp Duty and Transfer Tax; Myers, Fletcher & Gordon, The Transfer of Shares: Did I do it Right? |
| Ownership pattern, three mile radius | 754 of 4,878 parcels carry an owner mailing address outside Jamaica: 411 United States, 94 Canada, 90 United Kingdom, 3 Bahamas, 156 not classifiable from the address text. 335 parcels are held by entities rather than individuals and 133 sit in estates. A foreign mailing address is evidence of where mail is sent and nothing else. It is not evidence of offshore structuring, of non payment, or of anything improper, and it must never be reported as such. | Author's parcel register, from National Land Agency records and the Tax Administration Jamaica property tax query, 19 September 2026 |