John Pinel spoke out as the EU prepares to announce a range of measures to increase levies on pollution-causing fuels, such as kerosene, in a drive to encourage the use of cleaner energy sources, such as sustainable aviation fuel.
At present, marine and aviation fuel in Jersey are not subject to the standard duties as fuel used for road transport. Mr Pinel said he felt now was the time for that situation to change.
He said: ‘They need to be taxed at a reasonable rate. I don’t know what that is but I think it should actually be higher for leisure [aircraft and boat] users,’ he said.
‘You have a lot of tradesmen who need to use vehicles for their work and don’t benefit from tax-free fuel. I saw the reports also that the EU was looking to introduce taxes on commercial aviation and that is something that is long overdue.’
He added that he would like the Island to start negotiating with other jurisdictions, such as Guernsey, to make arrangements so that marine and aviation fuel could not be bought elsewhere more cheaply if taxes went up.
‘Ultimately, what we would like to see is something like the 15% minimum global tax rate that Joe Biden has pushed for applied to fuels for leisure boats and private aircraft,’ he said.
‘It’s essential that we start to think more internationally and, at some stage, there will probably be a multilateral agreement on this sort of thing. But there is no reason why we should not seek arrangements with Guernsey so that the Channel Islands are ahead of the international community.
‘It is better to be ahead than waiting to be dragged kicking and screaming in line with global standards.’
Jon Best, of ATF Fuels, said that the issue of other jurisdictions not raising taxes on their marine and aviation fuel was something that would need to be tackled.
‘If one jurisdiction applies higher taxes, then a plane or a boat will uplift their fuel from another jurisdiction where the tax is lower, so there is a competitiveness issue,’ he said.
‘But increasing taxes on fossil fuels would encourage the usage of alternative fuels, such as sustainable aviation fuel.’
Grouville Constable John Le Maistre, who sits on the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Panel, said that an agreement with places such as Guernsey would be needed for marine and aviation fuel taxes to be applied.
He added: ‘People may perceive boating or aviation as a rich man’s pursuit but it’s not. There’s a lot of less-well-off people who do it too and they might not be able to afford any increases.’
The government was approached for comment but had not responded at the time of going to print.
