Jamaicans complain about patty tax

(Jamaica Observer) Consumers of patties, the popular Jamaican delicacy, are hopping mad about the new tax to be imposed on the product come Friday.

“I don’t think it’s fair. Patty is poor people food; when you can’t afford anything else, you can buy a beef patty, which is under $100,” one man inside the Cross Roads branch of Tastee Limited said.

The majority of patrons who spoke to the Jamaica Observer yesterday during the lunch hour shared this sentiment, with most insisting that the tax placed on basic food items was a wrong move by the Government.

Last Thursday in his Budget presentation, Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips announced that patties, as well as a range of other basic food items — such as flavoured milk products, condensed milk and milk substitute, eggs, salt mackerel, salt fish, buns, crackers, syrup and corned beef — would be subject to General Consumption Tax of 16 1/2 per cent effective June 1.

Since then, the Government has been receiving a lot of criticism, especially from poor Jamaicans, many of whom purchase patties for lunch.

Yesterday, patrons at Tastee, one of the country’s largest producers of patties, lamented that the poor Jamaicans have always and will continue to bear the burden of taxation.

A cashier, who declined to give her name, said beef patties are the cheapest items on their menu.

“A patty and a box drink is less than $200, what are people to do now?” she asked.