‘Wealthy could be asked to pay more’

so that the island does not go soft on the super-rich and hard on ordinary people.

One deputy, Sasha Kazantseva-Miller, said that Policy & Resources had presented them with a ‘very narrow choice’ of tax options, which was saddling low and middle income earners with paying more and more.

‘A decision has been made to go with taxation that is the most regressive of all alternatives even when allowing for rebalancing allowances and social security and will affect low and income families most.

‘Let’s be clear that this is a political choice of what type of society and economy we want to have.

‘It’s a choice to leave wealth untouched and to put the burden on those who will feel it most on a daily and weekly basis, when completing their weekly shop and paying for life essentials.’

P&R has put forward three options to raise more money, either a 3% income-based health tax, a 5% GST, or an 8% GST.

Its review ruled out a wealth tax because wealth was considered to be highly mobile, and the island’s richest could be chased away.

Deputy Mark Helyar, the treasury lead on P&R, highlighted that the wealthiest 5% of households pay 26% of the taxes.

However, Deputy Kazantseva-Miller believes that the wealthy could be asked to pay more, and it would secure a more equal society.

‘No qualification has been provided as to why 5% paying 26% of taxes may not be a fair and appropriate amount.

‘If the 5% of Guernsey households have a significantly higher combined wealth than the bottom 5, 10, 20, 30%, then it’s proportionate that they pay a higher amount.

‘In the US, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Jeff Bezos own more wealth than the bottom 50% of Americans.

‘My estimation is that the situation in Guernsey is very similar with a handful of households having a combined wealth that far surpasses that combined majority.’

With only three options being put forward, Deputy Kazantseva-Miller feared that senior politicians were presenting it as a done deal, when she believed it was the easy and lazy way out.

‘This means that a political decision has already been taken in relation to the direction of travel for taxation because a number of tax options, such as a progressive income, wealth and wider corporate taxes have already been excluded.

‘So they want guidance but have not given us enough options to base this guidance on or opportunity to make other suggestions’

P&R’s tax proposals have also received a negative reaction in Alderney, with the island’s Policy & Finance committee worried that it could disproportionately impact them because of their reliance on imported goods and a lower average income.