‘Our cattery is hardly a hotel’
Saturday 27th December 2008, 9:30AM GMT.
Keith Tydeman and a guest of Le Courtil Griffin Cattery, which has been classed as a hotel under the new property tax system. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 0691246)
A CATTERY is challenging its classification as a hotel under the new Tax on Real Property system.
Verity and Tom Bacon have owned Le Courtil Griffin Cattery in St Sampson’s for three years. Since the changes to the property rating system, the operation has suffered a rise in taxation after being classed as a hostelry.
Mrs Bacon’s father, Keith Tydeman, went before the TRP appeals tribunal to dispute the matter. ‘We are only a small family business,’ he said. ‘We are no high-flying hotel or financial business.’
The cattery was first classed as a general business because it did not fall into any of the other categories. When that was challenged, the Cadastre reassessed it as a hostelry, meaning it was considered to be a building that houses tourists.
‘Our cats don’t come in by Condor,’ said Mr Tydeman. ‘We are a cat-orientated business, not a human-orientated one. We have just a few timber buildings with some mesh. We are basic. We are not on the scale of a hotel or guest house.’
The appeal tribunal was chaired by John Weir. Sheelagh Evans and Martin Johnson were on the panel. Its decision will be delivered in mid-January.
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Tom Bacon
Do you serve the cats Champagne?
Are they fed silver service?
Do they have Butlers?
Do they have a health club and get massages?
If so you host the best catery in this world.
Joke!
Are our tax takers wanting to tax all local businesses out of business?
It would appear so.
What next?
Sole traders treated as multinationals!
This Island is being laughed at by the way its led by fools.
I own a car. Does this mean I should be taxed as though I am a manufacturer of that vehicle?
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can you tell me where else in the world they are governed by such idiots
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Every year this island celebrates 9th May Liberation Day..am seriously beginning to ask why?
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Agreed, the categorisation of “hostelry” is absurd. Let’s not forget though that this only happened when the original categorisation of “general business” was challenged. I’m interested to know why. Unless Mr Bacon is looking for complete exemption from TRP, that categorisation seemed reasonable to me – it’s a business that didn’t fit into any other category.
Now Mr Bacon is appealing, something he is entitled to do under law, yet I wonder what his response will be if the appeal reverses the decision back to the original categorisation?
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“denise allen
can you tell me where else in the world they are governed by such idiots”
surely the true idiots are the ones who voted them in in the first place?
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What exactly is this cattery paying in TRP? Has it risen substantially – did they have an ‘old boys agreeement’ before? It would be interesting to know if we are talking about thousands of pounds here or just a small token amount? The Press like to sensationalise things but the public never usually get the truth.
I agree with Paul Le P. They are a business and they have to pay something. What category does Mr Bacon think he should be placed in? He is running a business which i assume makes a profit – perhaps retail would be better (but it is more expensive having a quick look at the rates). It sounds like the Cadastre tried to be fair to this man as they changed his classification when he asked but he is still not happy. It may well be ‘ a few timber buildings with some mesh’ but how much do they charge people to look after their cats?
I think the new TRP is easier to understand than the old rates which seemed to depend on who you knew and where your lived. You would have people with tape measures traipsing all over your new extension counting the radiators and windows and it was mad! Now it is based on the size of your property and what it is used for – much easer surely? Still, us Guerns like to moan eh?
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I doubt that our elected politicians had much to do with this decision.
It probably only went as far as the senior civil servants running the Cadastre.
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Are civil servants allowed to make decisions without political approval? I remember going to one of the drop-in sessions at Beau Sejour and politicians were there. The civil servants were there to explain things though – and it seemed very fair to me once they explained it as i had completely misunderstood the numbers etc.
I seem to remember that TRP was discussed in the States . I do find it astounding that they are now making a category specifically for cattery’s now – how much is this going to cost in administration, changing the law etc jsut for a couple of island businesses. How much are cattery’s being charged and is it really worth the hassle? We (the tax payer) will be paying for this and we have a right to know the amounts of money involved. What about boarding kennels, chicken houses, hedgehog sanctuaries, animal shelter etc – are they all having their own category – what are they charged? They are all similar businesses – care of animals.
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