Retailers fear that the higher the level, the more Islanders will shop outside the Island to avoid GST when it is introduced next April. Treasury Minister Terry Le Sueur told a Scrutiny panel this week that he was likely to propose a ‘de minimis’ figure of £400, meaning that any imports worth less than that amount would escape the 3% sales tax when it is levied from April. Chamber of Commerce retail spokesman Ray Shead said that the organisation, which represents more than 600 Island firms, could not comment on the proposed figure before seeing the Treasury department’s cost-benefit analysis of the point at which collecting the tax yielded more than the cost of collection. ‘The de minimis level is going to have an impact on local retailers, who are already suffering with the internet and off-Island shopping,’ said Mr Shead. ‘Our view is that it is difficult to give a figure because we do not know how much it costs and I do not think anybody does. We want to have a look at those figures openly. ‘Any additional factors that make Jersey any more expensive would not be appreciated, to put it mildly, by local retailers,’ he said.
