Jamaica to write off $2bn uncollected taxes

A bill that will authorize the write-off of more than 230 billion Jamaican dollars (2.37 billion U.S. dollars) of the country's uncollected taxes was submitted to the Senate for approval Monday.The bill, which passed the House of Representatives last week, is expected to get the final approval this week from the Senate.The new legislation will authorize Jamaica's Tax Administration Department (TAD) to classify unpaid taxes as "bad debt," which accounts for one third of the country's yearly budget, or 13.3 percent of GDP, twice the amount the government expected to save over seven years from its National Debt Exchange scheme.To ease the mounting debt burden, the Jamaican government last month enforced a National Debt Exchange, swapping high interest payouts on domestic bonds for low interest ones.