From Bob Gaiger.
I’M among the minority who supported the States’ fiscal policy. Perhaps the most important component of that policy was the introduction of GST. I applauded this broadening of the tax base, made doubly important by the forthcoming loss of corporate tax. I approved of the design: a simple, across-the-board tax set at a low rate and with the desirable effect of minimising the cost of administration. Despite a few concessions having been made, the structural integrity of the new tax survived through to the statute book.
When Harold Macmillan was asked what was most likely to blow a government off course he replied: ‘Events, dear boy’. We’ve known about the credit crunch since last autumn. We’ve known about increasing world food prices for almost as long. How sad that our government has been so slow to recognise these ‘events’. Ministers should have announced, ages ago, plans to alleviate the impact of the economic downturn on the lowest earners. Those plans should have included increasing the allowances to those on Low Income Support.
Alongside that, ministers ought to have retrospectively raised the Small Income Exemption limits for tax year 2007. That would have given low-income taxpayers a welcome boost through lower Itis deductions. Now they have been painted into a corner and are raising the white flag with a proposal to exempt food from GST. That adds a whole layer of complexity for wholesalers, retailers and administrators. It will give little relief to the poor, while exempting all those who can readily afford to pay the tax.
Worse still, it provides a real incentive to those States Members ideologically opposed to GST to press for its total abolition. Surely ministers do not think exempting food will satisfy these hard-line opponents?
There is still time for the sensible majority in the States to take a stand against gesture politics and force the introduction of measures that will target meaningful assistance where it is really needed: to those in our community on low incomes.
Point West, Chemin des Monts, St Ouen.
Article posted on 28th August, 2008 - 3.00pm
2 Article Comments
If they had passed the proposal to postpone GST for a year this may not have happen. If they had postponed GST for a year they would have seen that it is totally unnecessary as ITIS (which they did not take into consideration during their 6 years debating GST) is producing over twice as much as GST and thats before 20 means 20 figures come in. This Finance Minister was useless when he worked in Social Security and even more useless now. If he is re-elected and made first Minister then we get the Government we deserve.
Mr Gaiger, you were wrong when you supported the States fiscal strategy in the first place and what you propose now is just as bad. Giving more taxpayers money away to the less well off is fine in theory but it is we taxpayers who are continually having to foot the bill! There is a limit as to how much we can continue paying. It is not just the less well off that have to pay to live in Jersey - we taxpayers also pay for our food and utilities whilst most of us haven’t had a pay increase in at least 3 years. Where are we supposed to find all this extra cash the States are stealing from us? Terry Le Sueur’s answer? Tighten your belts! I hope everyone remembers all this when he comes up for re-election - unfortunately not in October! Don’t fob us off with rubbish like “events, dear boy” Mr Gaiger as if you had no idea how hard this was going to be for us all - you, like the Council of Ministers, knew that GST and 20 means 20 was going to cause the majority of us a lot of hardship and you simply did not care as long as the States brought in extra cash.