Jamaica · Compliance deep-dive

Jamaica PAYE, Education Tax, and HEART, explained by Workzoom.

Jamaica PAYE is 25% above the JMD 1,902,360 personal threshold (30% above JMD 6,000,000), Education Tax is 3.5% employer and 2.25% employee, and HEART is 3% employer. All three remit on the consolidated S01 to Tax Administration Jamaica.

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Last updated: 2026-04-27 Regulator: Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ)

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Current rates

Jamaica PAYE + Education Tax + HEART rates and ceilings.

Published by Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) and HEART/NSTA Trust. Workzoom applies these rates automatically on every Jamaican payroll run.

Deduction Employer Employee Ceiling / Floor Effective
PAYE
Pay As You Earn income tax
Income tax 		Not applicable 25% / 30% Ceiling: None 30% marginal rate kicks in above JMD 6,000,000 statutory income. Floor: JMD 1,902,360 per year April 1, 2026
Ed Tax
Education Tax
Education levy 		3.5% 2.25% Ceiling: No ceiling Applied to statutory income with no upper limit. Floor: None April 1, 2018
HEART
HEART/NTA Levy
Training levy 		3% Not applicable Ceiling: No ceiling Applies to employers whose monthly payroll exceeds the statutory floor. Floor: JMD 173,328 per year April 1, 2018

Source of record: Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ), with sub-component routed via HEART/NSTA Trust.

Filing calendar

When Jamaica PAYE + Education Tax + HEART returns are due.

Workzoom generates each filing directly from the live payroll register. The form code, the regulator, and the deadline come pre-wired in every Jamaican pay group.

S01
Monthly remittance
Due by the 14th of the following month

PAYE, Education Tax, and HEART file together with NIS and NHT on the S01. TAJ collects the consolidated return and routes the HEART portion to the HEART/NSTA Trust.

S02
Annual reconciliation
Due March 31 each year

The S02 closes off PAYE, Education Tax, and HEART contributions for every employee for the tax year. It draws on twelve months of matching S01 data, with personal allowances, tax-bracket movement, and HEART base reconciled to the payroll register.

Non-compliance

What happens if Jamaica PAYE + Education Tax + HEART is missed.

Late or missing filings trigger surcharges, interest, and audit exposure. Persistent non-compliance escalates to liability for both employer and employee portions.

  • JMD 5,000 per month overdue, up to JMD 1,000,000. Late S01 PAYE filings trigger a JMD 5,000 per month penalty under the Revenue Administration Act, capped at JMD 1,000,000 per return.
  • Statutory-rate interest plus late-payment surcharge. PAYE, Education Tax, and HEART amounts not remitted by the 14th attract statutory-rate interest plus a late-payment surcharge that compounds the cost of every overdue return.
  • Liability for under-withheld PAYE. If the employer under-withholds PAYE, the employer becomes liable for the under-withheld amount. Recovering the difference from the employee is constrained by statute, especially after termination.
  • HEART base misstatement on payroll above JMD 173,328 per month. Employers whose monthly payroll exceeds JMD 173,328 must remit HEART. Underpaying because the threshold was missed creates a gap that surfaces on the S02 and on HEART/NSTA audits.

Workzoom Payroll · Jamaica

Jamaican PAYE, on the payroll roadmap.

HR, Workforce, and Talent are live in Jamaica today, and the Jamaica NIS calculator also runs a sample PAYE deduction against current brackets. Full gross-to-net payroll for Jamaica, covering PAYE, Education Tax, HEART, and the S01 and S02 returns, is on our roadmap, and we are scoping it now with launch partners. Until then, Workzoom calculates pay to gross and exports time and leave data into your existing payroll. If payroll is part of your evaluation, contact us about Jamaica timelines.

  • HR, Workforce, and Talent live in Jamaica today
  • Jamaica NIS calculator with sample PAYE lines
  • Pay calculated to gross and exported to your current payroll
  • Full gross-to-net live in the Bahamas, Canada, and the US
  • Jamaica gross-to-net scoped with launch partners

PAYE + Education Tax + HEART in Jamaica

What Jamaican employers ask Workzoom about PAYE + Education Tax + HEART, filings, and payroll integration.

The JMD 1,902,360 personal income tax threshold applies on every Jamaican pay run. PAYE is withheld at 25% on statutory income between the threshold and JMD 6,000,000 per year, and at 30% above JMD 6,000,000. The threshold is set by the Ministry of Finance and updated by Tax Administration Jamaica.
Education Tax is 3.5% employer and 2.25% employee on statutory income with no ceiling. Both portions remit through the S01 to Tax Administration Jamaica each month. The 3.5% / 2.25% split has been in effect since 2018.
HEART applies only to employers whose monthly payroll exceeds JMD 173,328. There is no employee HEART contribution. The employer pays 3% on gross emoluments above the threshold. HEART funds the HEART/NSTA Trust, Jamaica's national workforce-training agency.
PAYE, Education Tax, and HEART are due together on the S01 by the 14th of the following month. A March payroll's S01 is due by April 14. The S02 annual reconciliation is due to TAJ by March 31 of the following year.
Statutory income is gross emoluments minus NIS and approved pension contributions. PAYE applies against the personal threshold using statutory income, not gross pay, which is the most common spreadsheet error in Jamaican payroll.
Yes. Bonuses, commissions, and overtime count as statutory income for Education Tax. Both the employer 3.5% and employee 2.25% portions apply. There is no ceiling on Education Tax, so high earners pay the full rate on every dollar.
The 30% marginal PAYE rate applies to statutory income above JMD 6,000,000 per year. Below JMD 6,000,000 (and above the JMD 1,902,360 personal threshold), the rate is 25%.
Employers who run approved HEART/NSTA training programs can claim a refund of up to 30% of HEART contributions. Keep HEART contribution history and per-program training records together, so the data needed to file a refund claim is on record.

Keep going

More on Jamaica payroll and compliance.

PAYE + Education Tax + HEART is one line among every Jamaican statutory requirement a payroll has to carry.

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Run Jamaica payroll properly.

PAYE + Education Tax + HEART is one line in a payroll engine that handles every Jamaican statutory deduction, every filing, and every reconciliation automatically.

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