Colin Powell

REFORMING Jersey’s zero-ten tax structure could provide the Island with a better system, according to the Chief Minister’s adviser on international affairs.

Colin Powell said that last week’s announcement that zero-ten would be dropped because it ‘did not meet the spirit’ of EU rules on business taxation was not all ‘doom and gloom’.

Mr Powell, who recently retired as the chairman of the Jersey Financial Services Commission after ten years, offered his views at the Institute of Directors monthly lunch on Tuesday.

‘Sometimes these events come out of the blue through changes in circumstances but they don’t always mean doom and gloom. They force you into assessing the situation, looking at what’s happening with competitors and maybe at the end of the day you might end up with something better than you had before,’ he said.

‘If you are analysing your position and looking at the outside world, then that’s a healthy position to be in. It’s inevitable that we should need to constantly re-look at what we are doing and see how it fits into the international community.’