Yesterday saw a slew of amendments lodged by deputies just before the deadline to add to the four already released.
Possibly the most striking move comes from the deputy who first proposed a reduction in the income tax rate to 15%. Now no longer Treasury lead, Mark Helyar wants to scrap that plan and have no tax or social security mitigations as part of the package, arguing that the focus should be on raising revenue rather than redistribution.
His proposal would net the States an extra £25m. a year, helping it to close the funding gap.
Deputy Helyar said it was a ‘different philosophy regarding the distribution of the burden of tax reform’.
He said that P&R wanted to raise most of its new money on a relatively small proportion of taxpayers.
‘This amendment proceeds on the principle that restoring the island’s finances is a collective responsibility,’ he said.
‘A broad-based tax system, in which the burden of reform is shared across the community while appropriate protection is maintained for those on the lowest incomes, and without the obvious necessity for further substantial near-term tax increases, is more likely to command public confidence and provide a durable foundation for the island’s finances.’
Two other amendments also address the various mitigations within the proposals which are intended to make it progressive, despite the regressive impact of a goods and services tax.
Deputy Gavin St Pier wants to ensure all of these measures are maintained in real terms over the years ahead, and Deputy Tom Rylatt seeks to introduce a requirement for a two-thirds majority vote to change any of them.
Elsewhere Deputy Aidan Mathews is making yet another attempt to exclude food and non-alcoholic drink from the proposed GST, despite the fact that the States recently voted that they should be included.
Deputy Marc Leadbeater has a narrower food exemption in mind. He wants to zero-rate food grown or produced by ‘small independent suppliers’.
Deputy Andy Sloan wants to bring back tax allowances for dependent children, which were discontinued in the 1980s; a real terms freeze in States spending for the next three years; and he wants consideration given to Guernsey adopting a flat rate of taxation in the future.
‘A single common tax rate framework would examine whether the island’s principal taxes and compulsory social security contributions could, so far as practicable, be aligned around a common headline rate, creating a simpler, more transparent and internationally competitive fiscal framework while maintaining sustainable public finances,’ he said.
Another amendment from Deputy St Pier, backed by Deputy Sloan, simply asks for ‘the role of social security contributions as part of Guernsey’s revenue base’ to be considered in any future work on taxation.
He will also try again to pave the way for the Lt-Governor to start paying income tax from the start of the next incumbent’s tour of duty.
Deputy Haley Camp has a brace of amendments. The first calls for the proposals on GST, and reforms to income tax and social security to be scrapped, but for those on motor tax to go ahead, and new proposals for both a corporate levy and a visitor levy to be prepared. Her second motion is to establish a ‘savings and service optimisation’ programme.
The two Alderney representatives want to see both the island’s electricity company and Water Board exempt from having to pay GST.
And Deputy David Goy has, as promised, moved forward on his Participation Incentivisation Tax with five amendments to the proposals, four of which would direct P&R to do further work on his ideas and the fifth would remove GST, motor tax and changes in social security contributions from the package.
The four amendments submitted before yesterday include a delaying motion calling for the whole debate to be put on hold until improvements are seen at the Revenue Service; for the establishment of a temporary Appropriations Committee to look again at ways to raise revenues and cut spending; one to remove the prospect of GST altogether, and one calling for a referendum on tax reform.
The deadline has now passed for submitting amendments with a financial impact, under the States rules of procedure. If any further amendments are submitted they will need to ask the States to vote to suspend the rules before they could be debated. Debate starts next Wednesday, 15 July.
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