Blaming elderly for tax hikes ‘is shameful’

David Inglis, chairman of Guernsey’s Age Concern, said it was the big topic of conversation at their centres, and members were feeling stressed and fed up.

‘I think what I and many of our members are deeply upset about is the fact that we’re being “blamed” [under the banner of the ageing demographic] for it.

‘It’s going to cause concern and anxiety and that’s the worst thing you can impose on an older person – they’ve worked hard and in many cases they are asset rich and cash poor.

‘So this would be adding more and more worry and concern about how they will manage in terms of finances and basic living.

‘Certainly GST would be damaging because it would hurt our members and I would question their definition of a health tax, 3% would be taken in income tax, so the fact that they call it a health tax is again degrading for the older generation.’

Policy & Resources has put forward three options for States members to consider – a 3% income-based health tax, a 5% GST, or an 8% GST.

Mr Inglis was disappointed that the plans had been put forward as a ‘foregone conclusion’ and he thought the solution was to consider corporate taxes, so that the island did not appear to be deliberately structured to attract the rich while hitting the ‘ordinary person’.

‘We should investigate what happened in 2008 when we went into the zero-10 regime, that completely wiped out £100m. of revenue that was coming into the States, and it’s not there any more because we set ourselves on a level platform with other jurisdictions. But interestingly enough, those other jurisdictions, they now have GST.

‘The problem with GST is that it’s regressive and it will continually go up if they suddenly feel they want more revenue.’

Policy & Resources has promised that if GST gets the go-ahead there would be mitigations to protect the poorest, but Mr Inglis was far from convinced.

He also called for a change in the narrative around the ageing demographic so that people who live to their 90s and 100s are celebrated, not castigated.

‘The older generation are a serious income source, they bring a lot to the community and many are still working, there’s a lot of knowledge and experience there.

‘So that is important in itself – and what I find frustrating is that 20 years ago government knew that this was on the horizon and they’ve done nothing.’

Former deputy Andy Le Lievre spent his working life at the States Social Security department and he also challenged the attribution of costs to specific sections of the community.

‘I suspect the founder of social welfare policy in Guernsey, Edward T Wheadon, might turn in his grave at the very thought that the scheme he encouraged the States to put in place about 100 years ago to protect the ordinary working man might fall foul of solutions to solve issues that, while serious, are only of a relatively short-term and temporary nature.

‘Let no one be mistaken as to the value of the Guernsey pension – for some it is the cream on the cake, for others it is their bread and butter, where the butter might be spread very thin.’