A GLOBAL corporation tax would represent a serious concern for Guernsey, according to the Treasury minister.

National media reports have suggested that delegates at this week’s G20 meeting in the United States will consider proposals to level global corporation tax rates in an effort to prevent companies switching their operating base to cheaper jurisdictions.

According to the Daily Mail, the plans include establishing a global minimum rate for company taxation.

Deputy Charles Parkinson (pictured) said that would have a great impact on Guernsey, which introduced a zero rate of corporation tax from January 2008.

‘It is a real risk,’ he said. ‘The Mail article may or may not have substance but there are definitely straws in the wind.’

The island would have to change its tax regime.

‘It would be the end of the road for zero-10,’ said Deputy Parkinson.

It was hard to know how much business might be lost, he said, and impossible to calculate how much would be paid by businesses after such changes.

He said it was therefore also very hard to tell how much it would impact on States finances.