AN additional £4 million has been added to the public coffers since changes to GST were brought in last summer, the government has revealed.
The “de minimis” threshold, at which Islanders pay the 5% sales tax on imported goods, was lowered from £135 to £60 in July 2023.
The changes were also applied to large online retailers – those whose turnover exceeds £300,000 annually, such as Amazon – which are now subject to GST in the same way as the Island’s high-street retailers.
The controversial move was designed to help Jersey businesses compete with fierce competition from online retailers but sparked concern among Islanders who went so far as to label the changes a “joke” and “disgusting”.
Meanwhile, Voisins Department Store owner Gerald Voisin has told the JEP that the GST changes had “made no difference”.
“I always thought it was disingenuous to say that the government are doing it to help retailers when they were doing it to raise more tax,” he added.
Responding to a written question from Deputy Raluca Kovacs, Treasury Minister Elaine Millar said: “Early analysis suggests that the first full year’s additional GST receipts from the mandatory registration of online retailers may exceed £4m.
“This arises from the registration of offshore retailers and the consequent reduction in the number of importations to which the de minimis level could apply.
“The majority of goods bought from these large offshore retailers now attract GST in the same way as goods bought from Jersey retailers, fulfilling a long-standing commitment of successive governments since GST was introduced.”
Former Treasury Minister Ian Gorst previously predicted that the new measures would add at least £1.1 million annually to the public coffers.
Monthly GST collections have fluctuated since July last year, peaking at £14.59 million in January 2024 and reaching its lowest point the following month at £4.78 million.
In total, approximately £125.18 million was collected during this period, while the average monthly collection is around £8.94 million.
In her response, Deputy Millar also said that the government had spent over £190,000 upgrading the Customs and Excise System to support the new regulations.
An additional £9,150 was paid for research to improve the user interface for this system.
Four new staff were initially hired to assist with the new processes, with staffing costs totalling £232,736 since June 2023.
