Tax calculator launched to show impact of reforms

A calculator built to help people understand how new proposed tax reforms will affect them has been published.

Policy and Resources (P&R) said a 3% goods and services tax (GST), the re-introduction of vehicle taxes and lower income tax bands were among the reforms it wanted to make to the tax system to fill an estimated £50m gap in its funding.

It said its calculator would help islanders "get a sense on whether they personally would be better or worse off" under P&R's proposed package of measures.

P&R said it believed the majority of households would be "better or no worse off compared to now" if plans were approved by the States next month.

Deputy Lindsay de Sausmarez, P&R committee president, said the idea of no one really being affected by new taxes was "counterintuitive", and plans would take "less income tax and social security from people on average or lower earnings".

She said this meant people had "more take-home pay and increasing pensions and other benefits".

She added: "Most people naturally assume that any option that includes GST would hit people on lower incomes hardest, but because of the other features of our package, a majority of low and middle income households would pay less tax than they do now, and that tax break would more than compensate for the amount of GST they would need to pay."

P&R said no data put into the calculator would be stored and that it was not a formal tax assessment.

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