#JaBudget2017: This is 'taxperity' gone wild ... Simpson Miller bashes revenue measures

Jovan Johnson, Parliamentary Reporter

Opposition leader Portia Simpson Miller this afternoon pleaded with the Andrew Holness administration to reverse the $13.5 tax package.

"This is 'tax-perity' gone wild," Simpson Miller said in the House of Representatives during her final contribution to the Budget Debate as Opposition Leader.

"The administration's version of prosperity is a fleeting illusion to be pursued but never attained."

Earlier, Simpson-Miller quoted dancehall artiste Bounta Killa saying the measures were "wicked".

She slammed the tax on group health insurance and fuel and the lowering of the threshold for which GCT on electricity is charged.

IN PHOTO: Portia Simpson Miller

"This government is again forcing hundreds of thousands of Jamaicans to pay tax on light bills and you call that prosperity. That is really tax- perity," she said.

The outgoing Opposition Leader then, defended her 2012-2016 administration.

She did not mention the over $40 billion in taxes over that period but noted that her administration inherited an economy in trouble and needed to restore Jamaica's global image after the Jamaica Labour Party administration floundered the deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"We passed all IMF quarterly tests. Eleven in all. I am happy to see  that this administration now understands the importance of passing IMF tests," Simpson Miller said.

She also rejected criticisms that she governed to ensure popularity, saying any politician who does not like popularity is "dead".