Grouville Constable John Le Maistre has lodged proposals calling for the rate of vehicle emissions duties to be increased by five per cent next year, rather than the 2.5 per cent proposed by Treasury Minister Alan Maclean, which is in line with inflation.
Mr Le Maistre has also proposed lowering the band limits so that more vehicles are captured by higher rates of VED. Under his proposals, the minimum emission rate at which the charge would be imposed would be reduced from 100 grams of carbon dioxide produced per kilometre to 50 grams.
The report accompanying his amendment says that as much as £2.2 million could be raised annually by the proposals.
Deputy Sam Mézec has lodged an amendment which, if approved, would effectively dispense with Jersey’s separate personal and marginal tax rates and bring all Islanders, with the exception of ‘high-value residents’, onto a single 25 per cent rate of tax.
Under the current system, Islanders pay the lower of the ‘marginal’ 26 per cent rate, which has a generous exemption threshold and numerous allowances, or the 20 per cent ‘personal’ rate, under which there is no threshold and far fewer allowances.
Effectively, the system means that lower earners pay the marginal rate and higher earners the personal rate. High-value residents are wealthy immigrants who relocate to Jersey and are offered a special tax deal.
Deputy Mézec says that his proposals would generate an extra £6 million of revenue, which could then be redirected towards subsidising university tuition fees, and at the same time reduce the burden on Jersey’s ‘squeezed middle’ earners, because everyone currently on a final tax rate, after allowances, of between one and 19 per cent would end up paying a lower amount.
‘The aim of this amendment is to make our tax system more simple and fair, while raising revenue to provide a reliable income stream for much-needed investment in public services,’ the report accompanying his amendment says.
Meanwhile, St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft has lodged a budget amendment and a law amendment which, if approved, would see the States start paying parish rates on the buildings it owns.
Mr Crowcroft has asked for £978,000 to be set aside either from contingency funds or budget underspends and added to the Infrastructure Department budget, from where it could be used to pay parish rates.
In his budget amendment, Mr Crowcroft points out that the States have previously agreed to pay rates on their buildings several times, only for the move to be blocked by the Constables’ Committee.
The report says: ‘It is a pity that the absence of support for this proposal from the majority of Constables at a single, short meeting on 18 September deflected the Treasury Minister from his intention to carry out the wishes of the States “to bring forward for debate proposals for the payment of parish rates by the States in 2018”, effectively preventing the Council of Ministers from fulfilling its pledges in the Strategic Plan and Medium Term Financial Plan.’
St Helier would stand to benefit by far the most from the States paying parish rates.
The budget is due to be debated on 28 November.
