Quote Originally Posted by Accompong View Post
I usually just show up with the cash money and see what it will buy. May is a very dead month in Negril area and a lot of owners may be tempted by cold, hard cash. It always amazes me what people will agree to do when money flashes in front of their eyes.
May is not as slow of a month as it used to be, the hotels this year didnt see much of a drop until mid-May. Busy season didnt end April 15th but more like May 15th. For larger businesses island wide, flashing cash also doesnt have near the impact as it did just a few years ago. Due to the IMF guidelines, taxes are becoming nearly impossible to avoid as the government needs to collect as much as possible to pay back the IMF loan. This is an ongoing change and the government is following business cash deposits and payments, asking where the cash came from and taxing it if the answer is even questionable.

Owning a business here is different today than it has been in the past. The very small cash based businesses only have to pay the new annual minimum business tax, but any serious business has to keep their records and deposits clean or be faced large "estimated taxes" with heavy fines. Jamaica is developing into a more of a first world economy, and there will be growing pains along the way. And flashing cash for a major discount will become a thing of the past very soon...