✎ Both figures below are editable — change them and every line updates
What it is working out
“Income tax” and “PAYE” are the same thing here. PAYE stands for Pay As You Earn — it is simply how Jamaican income tax is collected from wages, taken off by your employer before you are paid rather than billed to you later. So the PAYE line on the payslip above is your income tax. The other three are separate contributions, not tax.
Six deductions sit on Jamaican pay, and they do not all use the same base — which is the single most common reason a hand-worked payslip comes out wrong.
NIS — 3%
Taken off gross, capped at an insurable ceiling of J$5,000,000 a year. It comes off first, and what remains is the base for tax.
Statutory income
Gross less NIS. This — not gross — is what PAYE and Education Tax are charged on. Getting this step wrong moves every figure under it.
NHT — 2%
Employee contribution, charged on gross, with no ceiling. The employer adds 3% on top, which is not a payslip deduction.
Education Tax — 2.25%
Charged on statutory income, so it follows the NIS deduction rather than gross. The employer adds 3.5%.
PAYE
Nil up to the threshold, 25% above it, and 30% on the part above J$6,000,000 a year. See the rates in full.
HEART — 3%
Employer-only, on gross, for payrolls above J$173,328 a year. It never appears on an employee's payslip, so it is not shown above.
Periodic or cumulative — the toggle above
Switch the method and watch the PAYE line move. On a steady salary the two agree to the cent. Put a bonus in and they separate: periodic taxes June on its own, so part of the bonus spikes into 30%, while cumulative measures year-to-date pay against the year-to-date threshold and bands, keeping more of it at 25%. Neither is a trick — both are methods TAJ recognises, and Brawta runs both. The long version is in cumulative vs periodic PAYE.
The figures this calculator uses
| Item | Rate | Base | Annual limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| NIS (employee) | 3% | Gross | Ceiling J$5,000,000 |
| NHT (employee) | 2% | Gross | None |
| Education Tax (employee) | 2.25% | Statutory income | None |
| PAYE — first band | 25% | Statutory income over threshold | To J$6,000,000 |
| PAYE — second band | 30% | Statutory income | Above J$6,000,000 |
| Threshold Jan–Mar 2026 | — | — | J$1,799,376 |
| Threshold Apr–Dec 2026 | — | — | J$1,902,360 |
Source: TAJ Technical Advisory 04/2025 and the TAJ Employer's Guide. Brawta's engine reproduces their worked examples to the cent — see how that is checked.
Common questions
Is this calculator free?
Yes, and there is nothing to sign up for. It runs in your browser — no salary you type is sent to us or to anyone else.
Does it handle more than one employee?
Not on this page — this works out one payslip. For a whole payroll, the filings that follow from it (S01, S02, P45) and the year-to-date figures each employee carries, that is what Brawta is.
Why is my net pay different from my actual payslip?
Usually one of three things: a pension or other pre-tax deduction that changes statutory income, a prior year-to-date position from earlier in the year, or an employer using the other PAYE method. Try the toggle first.
Can I rely on this for filing?
It is general guidance, not tax advice, and it works out a single month on the assumptions shown. Confirm current figures with Tax Administration Jamaica before you file.