Four options for Tax debate

Wednesday 15 February 2023

Four options will be up for debate when the States meet today to try and decide a way forward for taxation in Guernsey and Alderney.

The 'Fairer Alternative Composite Amendment' was lodged yesterday, to be debated this week alongside P&R's original proposals and their own two alternatives.

Those behind the Fairer Alternative - Deputies Heidi Soulsby, Gavin St Pier and Sasha Kazantseva-Miller - say their Composite Amendment still focuses on savings but with the addition of some immediate revenue raising measures, such as the social security reforms and a Community and Infrastructure contribution.

A personal allowance uplift of £400 has been added which Deputy Soulsby said will make the package more progressive, whilst modest tax increases will be levied against those earning more.

The Composite Amendment would also lead to a review of the islands' portfolios of capital projects.

Deputy Soulsby had hoped that the FA trio and P&R could work together to present a united front ahead of the debate but those hopes were dashed yesterday.

Pictured: The P&R committee.

“Having had a positive meeting with Deputies Ferbrache and Murray last Friday, where we believed that some consensus could be reached, it was very disappointing to be told as soon as we walked in the room (Monday) that we would have to lay our own amendment. There didn’t appear to be any desire to engage further.” stated Deputy Soulsby.

“We simply do not believe the case has been made that the ‘big bang’ approach put forward by Policy & Resources is needed. Consequently, we do not need to raise an extra £85m from businesses and households in the next couple of years. Their assumptions of the structural deficit are based on nothing changing between now and 2040, when the truth is government should be looking to the future and planning a course for the Island. The lack of strategic thinking will just see us drifting to 2040, but without any common purpose. A strategic vision is required on which we can determine services needed, our tax base and the revenues to be raised from that tax base.

"This was a theme that came out of the debate three weeks ago, including from P&R’s Deputy Murray, and we think needs to be addressed, which we are doing in our amendment.”

Deputy Kasantseva-Miller believes that "the Fairer Alternative puts less of a burden on households than any of the Options put forward by Policy & Resources”, adding that: “At the same time, it is requiring government to do its bit before expecting hard working families and local businesses to pay more.”

Deputy St Pier added: “We believe that, should our proposals not succeed that there is a very strong likelihood that we will see nothing constructive come out of the tax review debate. This uncertainty could be harmful to Guernsey and that is why we are persevering in putting forward our own composite amendment. We know Option D is credible – indeed Deputy Ferbrache said so to both us and the Guernsey Press’ podcast. We are striving through Option D to find a consensus that ensures some positive decisions are made this week. The nature of consensus is it will not be everyone’s first or preferred choice but in this case, it will be far better than throwing everything out.”