A ticking-off for Treasury

Monday 23rd March 2009, 2:59PM GMT.

THE Treasury is dragging its feet on plans to recover £5m from companies which will pay no tax at all next year.

An independent report has criticised the department for not putting enough work into plans to make foreign non-finance companies pay at least a certain amount of tax.

The Corporate Services Scrutiny panel say that the department has not done enough on the ‘deemed rent’ charge that would apply to the companies.

The charge would raise about £4m to £5m — but Scrutiny say that even that estimate is not backed up by evidence.

• Picture: Scrutiny Panel chairman Deputy Sarah Ferguson

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1
Mogit

March 23, 2009 at 4:15 pm

No problem we’ll put up GST – sorted!!!

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2
Mark’s perspective

March 23, 2009 at 5:19 pm

Get them Sarah, you have teeth.

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3
Dan

March 23, 2009 at 6:49 pm

As Frank Walker said “Thank God we have GST.”

Now I can see why… We’ll be needing ~£40m to cover the Treasury’s mistakes each year.

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4
Pip Clement

March 24, 2009 at 11:51 am

I would have expected that the Treasury department would be well ahead on this considering that a deficit may well appear in the next few years.

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5
Adrian

March 24, 2009 at 1:43 pm

We can’t have the rich and big business being taxed like this what is the island coming to? GST was brought in to protect the rich and big business from having to pay more. Nothing will come of this as it isn’t in the island’s interests – allegedly!

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6
Alps expat

March 24, 2009 at 2:39 pm

4 million wont cover much, hardly worth the effort

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7
Big Bean

March 25, 2009 at 7:08 am

Am I right in saying that as well as the £4-5million in relation to this story, there is also the £3M wasted over the non securing of exchange rates in the incinerator fiasco.

I was never the best at maths but I reckon that adds up to £7-8Million.

Heads should roll!

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8
DL

March 25, 2009 at 7:21 am

I have been away from the Island for a while and received an income tax bill outstanding. I explained I was away doing voluntary work and once I start earning any money I shall pay what is due. I was advised I may have a surcharge to pay for this and responded angrily stating they are aware I am away and shall pay the tax in due course. Now I know this is different in some way, but how on earth can the little fish like me be treated like Im dodging any tax whilst the wealthy firms get away with it again and again. Maybe I should stay away from my beloved Island forever as it makes me sick to see what is happening to Jersey. It used to be for Jersey people. Now it’s for anything but!!!

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9
Pip Clement

March 25, 2009 at 12:56 pm

To anyone who thinks that the £4M does not matter much I would say that this is typical of the way the States are run.
Over a year there are cost over runs of a few hundred thousand or a million each on dozens of projects and at the end of the year it adds up to tens of millions.
Despite the fact that there are three accountants in the CoM and dozens of them in Treasury it is rare for a States funded project to come in on time and on budget.
Usually we have the depressing headline in the Evening Post detailing yet another cost overrun.

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10
Adrian

March 29, 2009 at 12:46 pm

Jersey is perceived as being very rich, and there is a culture of over spemding as it doesn’t really matter. However this is incorrect, actually the island, as a whole, is not very well off, it is the few who give the impression of wealth.

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