Peter Bunting says 15% GCT on short-term rentals weakens Jamaican tourism ownership

Peter Bunting, MP, has criticised the Government’s decision to charge 15% GCT on short-term rental revenues, arguing that the move will hurt smaller Jamaican tourism operators while larger hotel groups continue to receive major state-backed incentives.

Bunting said small businesses are central to employment, innovation and entrepreneurship, but he argued that government policy is being shaped mainly around large companies while adding new pressure on smaller operators.

He pointed to the short-term rental market as a sector that has expanded sharply, moving from 60,000 guests in 2017 to more than 800,000 in 2024. According to Bunting, that growth has allowed Jamaicans in communities such as Arnett Gardens, Rockfort, Manchester and Hanover to become accommodation owners and tourism entrepreneurs.

He said short-term rentals also keep more tourism earnings inside local communities than the traditional enclave hotel model. Property owners, repair and maintenance workers, taxi and transport operators, restaurants and local suppliers, he argued, all gain from the sector’s links with the wider domestic economy.

Bunting rejected the argument that the tax is needed to create fairness across the accommodation industry. He said large hotel developments benefit under the Omnibus Incentives Act and the tourism sector framework through lower corporate income tax, relief on equipment and building materials, employment tax credits, capital allowances for construction spending, and support from Jamaica Tourist Board marketing programmes.

By contrast, he said short-term rental operators do not receive those benefits and remain liable for income tax at the standard rate.

Quoting a warning he attributed to progressive leaders in the Caribbean and elsewhere, Bunting said the region must avoid replacing “sugar plantations with hotel plantations.” He added that an economy built around leisure can still repeat old patterns if Jamaicans are limited to service roles rather than ownership.

Bunting said the issue is therefore not only about taxation, but about who gets to own a stake in Jamaica’s tourism economy. He also referred to a point he made in the 2018 sectoral debate, saying poor tax policy is especially risky at a time of high fuel prices, pass-through inflation, recovery from Hurricane Melissa, and the possibility of higher interest rates.