In one of the hardest-hitting Budget statements for decades, Treasury Minister Philip Ozouf revealed plans to increase GST to five per cent and force higher earners to pay more Social Security payments. The minister also announced duty increases on fuel, alcohol and tobacco.
Speaking shortly after the proposals were outlined to business leaders at a briefing at the Town Hall, Chamber of Commerce president Ray Shead said that there was ‘nothing unexpected in the Budget’.
He said: ‘There was nothing desperately new or unexpected in this. ‘I think we all knew that once the three-year moratorium on GST had expired it would soon be going up.
‘However, the increase in Social Security payments is a tax on the payroll. It would be on both employees and employers and potentially could make people think twice about recruiting.
