A HUGE hike in tax on real property could jeopardise the future of a garden centre. Queux Patio Plants owner Nigel Clark was shocked to find that what he will have to pay had jumped from £121.52 to £11,183.96.
The method of calculating TRP is being revised from 1 January and the States has sent letters to businesses informing them how much they will be expected to pay under the new system.
‘I don’t see why I should have to charge my customers more for the same thing just to cover that cost,’ said Mr Clark. ‘I’m not prepared to fill the States’ coffers at my customers’ expense. This is obviously being done to help fill the black hole.
‘I’m prepared to pay whatever they want me to if I have a level playing field with other retailers like B&Q, but that’s not the case.
‘I will take on any competitor, however big. I can have an idea and implement it the next day without the need for blue-sky meetings and all the rest of it.
‘But as I am not afforded the same kind of flexibility as, say, B&Q and am not allowed to expand and diversify my operation in the way I would like, there will come a time when the ideas could run out.’
Mr Clark called the States Cadastre when he received the letter about the TRP hike.
He said he could not believe it when he found out how much it had increased.
‘I told the person on the phone that they had obviously made a mistake, but unfortunately it wasn’t,’ he said.
‘Sending out such a letter without prior warning was immoral and totally wrong.
‘I view the current States as the most uncaring in Guernsey’s history.’
Treasury has urged people with questions about the new TRP ratings to attend drop-in sessions next week to learn more. Cadastre staff have received more than 200 calls in the couple of days since the notices were sent out.
Treasury and Resources minister Lyndon Trott said he was aware of cases where TRP for some non-financial services companies had increased significantly and these would be investigated.
‘Initial research indicates that some of those businesses may have been substantially under-charged under the former system, in some cases for a considerable period,’ he said.
‘Those cases appear to have been the result of the property being taxed under the wrong category or because the business had expanded but not been remeasured for taxable rateable value.
‘This has given these businesses an unfair advantage and is one of the many benefits offered by the new TRP system because those anomalies have now been removed. Having them in place would mean everyone else having to pay more.’
Deputy Trott also pointed out that the notices people had received were not bills and that no payment was expected until February.
The drop-in sessions are in the Cambridge Room at Beau Sejour on Monday from 10am-8pm and on Tuesday from 10am-6.30pm.
A further session will take place in Alderney next
* In Saturday’s Guernsey Press, the department will publish the TRP rates as approved by the States as
part of the current Budget debate.
All property owners will
then be able to work out exactly what their revised bill will be.
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