From Nick Pitman, co-owner, Trek Plus.
IT seems quite obvious to me that many States Members dislike Jersey-owned businesses with a passion.

So much so that they actively seek to destroy them. When Senator Philip Ozouf was in charge of Economic Development he said publicly that it was not his job to protect local businesses. Maybe he should have said that it was his job to destroy them.

Senator Alan Breckon, in his consumer magazine, often states that businesses in Jersey are ‘ripping people off’. These blanket comments are made without Senator Breckon visiting the retailer he thinks is overcharging and discussing the reasons for the prices charged.

It has been noted in previous discussions about pricing in Jersey that some officials have stated that ‘excuses’ such as higher rents and overheads should not be taken into account. Why not? It is common knowledge that rents in Jersey are higher than the UK, cost of living is much higher and staff, if you wish to retain them, are having to be paid a higher wage.

Price comparisons are just that, a black and white paper exercise showing one shop charging this amount and a Jersey shop charging that. But is it that straight-forward? If you compare like-with-like – ie a bricks-and-mortar shop in the UK of a similar size and area population to that of the Jersey shop – then you may have a fairer comparison.

However, if you set the Jersey price against a large multi-national firm running from warehouses in the UK, then you have an unfair comparison. These multi-million pound companies either manufacture their own products or buy in such bulk from their suppliers that they can take the hit on price because they benefit from high discounts.

They often sell in such high volume that they can sell at vastly less than a normal independent retailer who does not have access to huge supplier discounts and high-volume sales.

We are often told by the powers-that-be that Jersey retailers have no competition. They are wrong. The internet has been our competition since it grew in the nineties. The whole virtual world is a customer’s high street. Jersey is too small a community for retailers to cut their own throats by attempting to rip off customers. Word soon gets around and, if true, then that particular retailer will not stay in business long.

Senator Terry Le Sueur, our Chief Minister, is complicit in this argument as well. When the States Chamber ignored the 19,000-plus signatures on the anti-GST petition, Senator Le Sueur and his officers were agreeing a paper by Crown Agencies stating said that ‘consumers would be encouraged to put pressure on retailers to absorb the tax’.

Senator Le Sueur should know that we did try to absorb the tax but it was crippling us and we have reluctantly had to pass it on to the consumer. As a result of absorbing the tax last year we made a loss for the first time in 20 years.

Further to the pressure put on retailers to absorb GST was the laughable de-minimus figure of £400 for goods imported by consumers from the UK without being subject to GST. When we try and sell to customers in the UK our goods are charged VAT by the UK Post Office on behalf of HM Customs & Excise if the parcel exceeds £18 in value.

To make matters worse, Jersey Post, owned by the States, have just launched the Ship2me service, allowing customers to buy from UK businesses any item they choose. The company will reclaim their VAT and deliver to Jersey. If that parcel is under £400, they will escape GST as well.

Finally: the most disgraceful introduction and a final nail in the coffin of Jersey-owned businesses. The zero-ten tax policy – which will tax all locally resident company shareholders personally for the profits or perceived dividends paid to them on behalf of the companies they own, but will allow UK and other overseas firms to trade in Jersey without their shareholders paying a penny to the Jersey Tax Office.

This is outrageous and when the Blampied amendment was discussed, which would have taxed UK businesses on rentable value to even up the equation, it was dismissed as too complicated to administer by the States.

The reason that Jersey is haemorrhaging taxes is because consumers are being encouraged and openly assisted to shop outside the Island coupled with a high street filled with UK-only retailers paying no tax in Jersey whatsoever. How will they fill the void? Higher GST and income tax which affects each and every one of us.

Will the last person to leave Jersey switch the light off – if it hasn’t already been cut off for non-payment.