Jamaica: New Tax imposed on Phone Calls

The Government of Jamaica has introduced a special telephone tax on all calls originating in Jamaica, effective July 15, 2012.

This will include a tax of J$0.05 (US$ 0.0006) per minute on landline to landline calls, and a tax of J$0.40 (US$ 0.005) per minute on all other calls – such as mobile to mobile, landline to mobile, mobile to landline and international calls.

Landline and Mobile Postpaid customers in Jamaica, will have the new tax reflected separately on their monthly bills.

The introduction of the special tax imposed on telephone call traffic originating in Jamaica is related to the Government of Jamaica’s (GOJ) revenue enhancement measures – Ministry Paper No. 37.

Some calls, such as access to voicemail, customer care and administrative calls to manage phone accounts have been exempted from the tax.