Deputy Montfort Tadier, who has been a vocal critic of aspects of Jersey’s finance industry, appeared on Channel 4 News on Friday night.
Business correspondent Siobhan Kennedy was reporting from the Island as world leaders prepared to meet for the G8 summit in Northern Ireland, where tax issues are due to be high on the agenda.
When asked if tax avoidance went on in Jersey, Deputy Tadier replied ‘absolutely’, adding: ‘What is interesting, I think, is that he dialogue has shifted from tax evasion and now globally everyone is looking at tax avoidance, aggressive tax avoidance, and Jersey has always had a big element of tax avoidance which it bases its economy on and it’s not shy to talk about it.’
But Treasury Minister Philip Ozouf, who was also interviewed by Ms Kennedy, told the programme that Jersey authorities did not welcome tax avoidance.
He said: ‘I think that there has been a great deal of inaccurate reporting about the actuality of what happens in Jersey. The Jersey authorities and the Chief Minister have been clear that we do not welcome aggressive tax avoidance in Jersey.’
