Get this consultation wrong and waste will not matter
Friday 23rd July 2010, 2:30PM BST.
THERE is a lot of consulting with the public going on at the moment.
A positive and smiling Chief Minister Lyndon Trott in October when he addressed States members and business leaders after the EU ruled out zero-10. (Picture by Peter Frankland, 0856570)
The reasons why politicians, who after all we elect to make these decisions for us, ask the views of the public can be many and varied.
Some may regard it as a tool for gaining political acceptance, a way of avoiding making decisions, or perhaps even a way of removing responsibility, but that is not for me to speculate. It may just simply be a way of finding out what the public want.
In Jersey, the public are being asked whether they would prefer to pay more income tax, GST, domestic rates or social security.
I suspect they are getting some interesting, and I dare say some physically challenging, responses.
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After the total failure of zero/10, which Guernsey jumped into far too fast at a cost to the island of around £200 million pounds, you can understand that after this next decision politicains will want to blame someone else if it goes wrong, hence the early consultation.
What is the hurry again, there is no hurry,belgium have apparently about unfair taxation, the UK Treasury have made some comments, nothing definitive had been laid out as to exactly how we should be re-reviewing our Corporate tax system.
We can’t make any decisions until we know the results of the review by the CCG into Isle of man and Jersey. In fact we would have been better off to have them review us and we may have had some constructive guidance. This consultation may just be a total waste of time and should have started after the review so as we knew where we stood.
We’re jumping in with both feet again.
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There is no reason to try to lead the pack on this, except egos in the States.
Gary Blanchard is right, EU Tax rates are all over the place – Cyprus and Bulgaria are 10% and Ireland 12.5%. Belgium tax system is completely laughable, many high earners have nominee luxembourg addresses and avoid their tax – and this has been going on for years and ignored because no-one in the EU wants to rock the local boat. On that basis, zero-10 wasn’t unfair fair but even if it was, what’s wrong with a 2% flat rate and a banking licence? Its better than GST or its alternatives.
let’s await the CCG review into other jurisdictions and then start from the comments made – otherwise it’s like deciding on surgery before we know what the patient’s symptoms are.
We need to ensure that the economy remains locally viable and increasing local taxes doesn’t do that. It hits ordinary people as well as those that can afford it. Just look at the number of tax payers fleeing England right now. In today’s era of internet communications, the rich are moving to the havens that are truely tax-friendly.
Let’s face it, the OECD plans are run by the countries that can’t keep control of their overspending economies.
This is our last chance to get it right, and we should be moving very cautiousy.
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Companies should pay tax,it shouldn’t fall on ordinary people to pay all the tax.Why don’t they pay 20% like the rest of us?And why do the States have over 200 million stashed away in the so called rainy day fund?Dont they think its raining now?
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