NEARLY 2,500 Islanders have signed a petition calling on the government to reverse its decision to add GST to products bought from online retailer Amazon.
This means that the petition is halfway to being considered for debate in the States Assembly, which happens when it reaches 5,000 votes.
Jean McDonald, the founder of self-funded animal rescue charity Freddy’s Rescue Sanctuary, began the petition after new GST rules came into effect from the start of this month.
Now, online orders of any value from vendors which have an annual turnover of at least £300,000, such as Amazon, are subject to the same 5% sales tax – GST – as high-street retailers.
The ‘de minimis’ threshold at which Islanders pay GST on imported products from smaller retailers also recently dropped from £135 to £60.
Mrs McDonald, however, said that GST should not be charged on orders that cost less than £60, from any retailer.
‘At a time when costs for everything have gone sky high, it’s not right to do this,’ she said.
The petition will remain open until January and can be viewed online at petitions.gov.je.
