GST starts today. Shop prices have been going up around the Island as Jersey wakes up to a 3% jump in the price of just about everything from milk to bread, from newspapers to cigarettes.
The controversial goods and services tax will raise £30 million by the end of the year, say the Treasury Department, and ฃ45 million in a full 12 months to help to fill the ‘black hole’ caused by enforced changes to income tax rules.
And it is expected to be the key issue in the elections later this year, with 47 of the 53 States Members’ seats up for election.
The Island is expected to lose more than ฃ80 million in its annual tax take because of the move to the ‘zero-ten’ company income tax system, and GST - which has been pegged at 3% for three years - is part of a package to recover the shortfall.
But the fight against the tax is not over. Health Minister Ben Shenton says he will take a proposition to the new States next year to exempt food, children’s clothes, books and newspapers.
Article posted on 6th May, 2008 - 12.00am
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