Peter Bunting criticises GCT on short-term rentals and urges wider Jamaican ownership in tourism

Peter Bunting, MP, has criticised the Government’s move to apply 15 per cent GCT to revenue earned from short-term rental accommodation, saying the policy places new pressure on smaller operators while large tourism interests continue to benefit from state support.

Bunting said small businesses are central to employment, enterprise and innovation, but argued that current policy favours major companies. He pointed to the short-term rental market as a growing area of Jamaican ownership, noting that the sector moved from 60,000 guests in 2017 to more than 800,000 in 2024.

He said the model has allowed Jamaicans in communities such as Arnett Gardens, Rockfort, Manchester and Hanover to earn from tourism as property owners and operators. In his view, short-term rentals create stronger local economic links than the dominant hotel model, with benefits flowing to maintenance workers, transport operators, restaurants and suppliers.

Bunting rejected the argument that the tax is needed to create fairness in accommodation, saying large hotel investments already receive major concessions under the Omnibus Incentives Act and the Tourism Sector Framework. He cited reduced corporate income taxes, relief on equipment and construction inputs, employment tax credits, capital write-offs for building costs, and cooperative marketing support through the Tourist Board.

He said short-term rental operators do not receive those benefits and remain liable for income tax at the normal rate. Referring to warnings from progressive leaders in the Caribbean and elsewhere, he quoted the caution “Not to replace sugar plantations with hotel plantations.”

Bunting said Jamaica should not build an economy where citizens can only work in tourism, but one in which they can own part of the industry. He also revisited a tax-policy concern he said he raised in the 2018 sector debate, linking geopolitical tensions, rising fuel prices, pass-through inflation, recovery from Hurricane Melissa and the possibility of higher interest rates.