A TEN per cent sales tax would be a ‘Robin Hood policy in reverse’ with children, the poor and the unemployed funding a 50 per cent reduction in the tax burden of the wealthy, says Senator Stuart Syvret.

The Senator was reacting to proposals put forward by Institute of Directors chairman Andrew Lewis that Jersey should have a ten per cent sales tax and a ten per cent income tax rate rather than the three per cent across-the-board goods and services tax proposed by Finance and Economics.

But Finance president Senator Terry Le Sueur said that the IoD proposals were ‘an interesting suggestion’ that he would not dismiss.

They were ‘certainly worth looking at’ and he would be happy to talk to Mr Lewis about them.

Senator Le Sueur said: ‘My mind is not closed to the idea, but there are certain sectors who would find it uncompetitive.

If we were to look at such a move, we would have to make sure it would be fair to people in the community.’ But Senator Syvret says that the proposals would transfer the tax burden to children, the low paid, the unemployed and those unable to work while giving a huge tax benefit to the Island’s millionaires.

‘There are better and politically less destabilising ways of addressing our tax challenges than the type of divisive ideological right-wing fundamentalism of IoD chairman Mr Lewis,’ said the Senator.