Think twice before you go down GST route – economist
GST is not inevitable and Guernsey should think twice about introducing it because it would affect the island's reputation, independent financial economist Professor Dominic Swords said yesterday.
The author of a critical report into how a goods and services tax would impact the island addressed deputies and businesses heads yesterday morning.
In a short presentation, Professor Swords, pictured, said there were a number of reasons why such a tax should not be introduced in Guernsey.
He was keen to stress that GST was a value added tax and was not an inevitability just because other jurisdictions had adopted it.
'We are in the middle of huge global structure and change,' he said, during the second of the presentations.
'It is not an inevitability and you should think twice about introducing it for a variety of reasons.'
Reasons included the fact that the tax would increase business costs, government would have to hire people to administer it and it would put up prices.
Another main reason, he said, was reputation. Guernsey had a good reputation because there was no value added tax.
