Paying up is fairer on all

SARK'S tax assessor Trevor Kendall, in a bit of self-deprecating humour, sometimes likes to describe himself as a person who vies for the position of the most unpopular man in Sark.

The fact that he usually does this when meeting me with the greeting, 'and how's the second most unpopular man in the island?', is neither here nor there, for we both know that, depending upon which way the pendulum of public opinion is swinging, there are a host of other candidates in the frame.

However, when he is not exercising his considerable gift for dry humour, there is a serious side to him - roughly speaking it's when he's talking about taxes and his role in their gathering - and Sark residents were reminded of this when an open letter to them all was delivered by post not long ago.

Put in very simple terms - which those engaged in (unlawful) tax evasion, as distinct from (lawful) tax avoidance, will understand - Trevor wants us to grass on anyone who we believe isn't paying his or her whack under the direct taxes legislation.

Contrary to a widely-held view - one not helped by a statement on at least one website which suggests that there are no taxes at all here - Sark residents do pay, and loosely speaking, taxes are based on a choice of paying a factor of the property tax or a percentage of worldwide assets, subject to minimum and maximum amounts.

This system was introduced in 2002 and replaced the infamous La Taxe, something which was described as 'an assessment of personal wealth' when I queried how it could be assessed without the douzaine - whose function that was - asking for information from residents.

I never got an answer, which led me to the conclusion, as I wrote, that assessment involved two members of that august body being blindfolded and each given a dart - the first to throw at a list of newly-arrived residents and the second to throw at a list of four-figure amounts.

That in turn led to a former member of the douzaine suggesting to me that his hitherto colleagues probably hid in the telephone box in The Avenue to see how often my wife and I went out to dinner. He added, equally tongue-in-cheek, that the fact that my wife had been seen getting on the boat while carrying a laptop was further proof to the douzaine that we were worth a few bob and could therefore afford the hit.

At least things are a good deal fairer now.

On a more serious note, I actually hope people heed Trevor Kendall's pleas that he be informed of those who should be paying their fair share and clearly aren't. As he said in his letter to residents, and I quote: 'It has always been my belief that if all eligible persons paid their share of tax, then most of us would not be paying as much.'

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I write frequently about how generous this small community is and two recent examples prove the point. Last Saturday I popped into the Island Hall and saw that half the island and his brother had turned out for a jumble sale in aid of the Red Cross.

The trestle tables were absolutely groaning under the weight of all manner of things that had been donated and were being bought, in aid of a charity which means perhaps more than many others to Channel Islanders.

While there, I was told that there had been a similar event just a week before when Caragh Couldridge had organised a sale in aid of a cancer research charity and raised more than £1,100.

No doubt there'll be more of the same from now until next Easter. What a marvellous bunch of people.

l The email address for comment is fallesark@sark.net.