Comptroller of Revenue Richard Summersgill said that no offshore retailers had yet committed to the move, but they were ‘very open to having the conversation’.
Earlier this year it emerged that the Treasury wanted online retailers to charge the 5% sales tax at the point-of-sale, in line with similar moves in the UK and EU. The Treasury hopes to then remove or lower the ‘de minimis limit’ of £135, below which GST is not charged on imported goods.
In a recent Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel hearing, Mr Summersgill said there had been no firm commitments made yet but online retailers were ready to discuss the issue.
‘What the ambition is, is to ensure that larger offshore retailers, like Amazon, do charge GST when people go online and buy the goods,’ he said.
‘Then, if that’s secured, we should be able to reduce the GST de minimis level. The UK has already abolished its de minimis level following Brexit and the EU is doing so from 1 July.’
He added: ‘Nobody has committed but from the discussions we’ve had people are all very open to having the conversation. Some of them will probably not commit until they actually see draft legislation.’
Mr Summersgill said that no online retailer had said they would stop selling goods to Jersey as a result of the move.
During the hearing, Treasury Minister Susie Pinel was questioned on what level of debt the Island may need to take out to pay for Covid-19, as well as projects such as the new hospital, updating IT systems, regenerating Fort Regent, the office modernisation strategy and the sports strategy.
Deputy Pinel said that she would not give a public estimate but explained that she was concerned about ‘over-borrowing’ and would aim to control costs.
Assistant Treasury Minister Ian Gorst said that he shared her view that borrowing should be minimised, even with interest rates very low at this time.
‘We understand the view of some that interest rates are low and therefore now could potentially be perceived as an optimal time to borrow,’ he said.
‘But my view is being cautious with public finances and only borrowing where we absolutely must. We shouldn’t simply say because money is cheap we can max out on the borrowing.’
Last year’s Government Plan indicated that the Island would need to take out a £336 million loan by this year to pay for the pandemic, as well as £50 million for the fiscal stimulus fund, which is designed to boost the economy.
