Thursday 22 June 2017
The Policy & Resources Committee is to strongly oppose moves to increase taxes by around £750 for each taxpayer.
The moves to raise taxes are set out in a small number of proposed amendments to the medium term financial plan, which is to be debated by the States Assembly next week as part of the Policy & Resource Plan.
Deputy Gavin St Pier, President of the Policy & Resources Committee said:
'There are a number of amendments to the medium term financial plan, some of which P&R is opposing - specifically those that demand a higher tax burden for Guernsey families. The proposals in one of the amendments would amount to an extra £28m over the four years of the plan - which amounts to a whopping £750 extra tax for each and every of the island's roughly 37,000 taxpayers. This is totally unwarranted and lacks any supporting evidence.
'This government's first priority has to be to continue to transform itself so that it is less of a cost to islanders, not more. We should not seek to replace the good but tough discipline of expenditure restraint and reform with the easier alternative of taxing more in order to spend more.
'The medium term financial plan sets out an evidenced, realistic, pragmatic but prudent approach which will see us return to fiscal surplus, without the need for unrealistic or drastic measures. We cannot simply tax our way out of the challenges we face.'
Deputy Lyndon Trott, Vice-President of the Policy & Resources Committee said:
'Away from our shores, there is great uncertainty. We should not under-estimate the importance of the stability in our economic and fiscal model for our economy which results in securing jobs and prosperity for our island.
'We need to continue our commitment to small government by keeping taxes as low as possible, and not by increasing them unnecessarily.
'We remain firmly committed to a 20 per cent personal income tax rate, no inheritance tax and no capital taxes. Just as that certainty is good for our international competitiveness, so it rightly also enables Guernsey taxpayers to keep as much of their hard-earned money as possible, for the benefit of their families.'
