What is the difference between periodic and cumulative PAYE?

Periodic PAYE taxes each pay period on its own — that period's pay against that period's slice of the threshold. Cumulative PAYE looks at the whole year to date — total pay against the threshold to date — and deducts the tax still owed, which smooths out bonuses and uneven pay and ties out at year end.

Which PAYE method should I use in Jamaica?

Periodic is simplest and fine for steady salaries. Cumulative is better when pay varies — bonuses, commissions, irregular hours — or when you want the year to reconcile cleanly without employees filing to settle over- or under-payment.

What is the opening-balance trap with cumulative PAYE?

If you start using cumulative PAYE part-way through the year, you must enter each employee's pay and PAYE already deducted earlier in the year. Without it the calculation assumes they earned nothing yet, gives the whole threshold at once, and under-deducts on the first run.

Cumulative vs Periodic PAYE in Jamaica

Periodic — the simple default

Each pay period is taxed on its own: that period's pay against that period's slice of the tax-free threshold. Predictable and easy — best for steady salaries. The trade-off: if pay jumps around (a big commission month, a bonus), tax can spike in the high month, and unused threshold from a low month isn't automatically clawed back — the employee settles any difference on their own annual return.

Cumulative — smoother and self-correcting

Each pay period looks at the whole year so far: total pay to date against the threshold to date, works out the tax due for the year up to now, and deducts what's still owed after what was already taken. This smooths out bonuses and uneven pay and ties out cleanly at year end — but only if the year-to-date picture is correct.

Which should you choose?

Pick…	When…
Periodic	Steady salaries; you want the simplest method to explain to staff.
Cumulative	Bonuses, commissions or irregular pay; you want year-end to tie out without staff having to file to settle.

The mid-year trap (read this before switching)

Starting cumulative part-way through the year? Cumulative tax needs each person's pay and PAYE already deducted earlier in the year (from your previous system). If you don't supply it, the calculation assumes they earned nothing yet, hands over the whole year's tax-free amount at once, and under-deducts tax on the first run. It self-corrects over the next few periods, but that first payslip will be wrong.

The fix: before the first cumulative run, enter each employee's opening year-to-date figures (statutory income and PAYE already deducted this year). A brand-new hire — first job this tax year — needs nothing. In Brawta this is a field on the employee record, and switching methods is a setting you can change per person or company-wide.

Either method, worked out correctly.

Brawta does both periodic and cumulative PAYE, handles Week 53, and prompts for opening balances when you onboard mid-year — so the figures are right from the first payslip. Free to try.

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