Other Business

Anonymous
Very few people want GST. The protest was good and might have been considered if the states wasn't in such a mess.

However, it's not enough to make the current states members listen. Plenty of viable alternatives have been suggested, but have been brushed off by the states without any real debate or arguments against them.

It is likely that no single change is going to have the same effect as GST, but a combination of other changes could easily raise as much money as GST without as many negative effects.

It's probably related to their fetish over rich members of society; all their arguments for GST are related to how it will entice wealthy people into the island.

If the people of Jersey are so concerned about GST, we should do something significant... something that can't just be ignored, for example, blocking the roads into town on a Monday morning or something else that'd cause problems to the states...

Joker C
I don’t want to pay an additional 3% on almost everything I buy either. But I can’t criticise GST because I understand the deficit we will run into if a countermeasure isn’t introduced & I have no other viable alternative to suggest.

Why don’t the people who are moaning about the situation place their energies into coming up with viable alternatives? It’s easy to criticise & march around the Square. It’s easy for the same politicians (JDA included) who always go for the easy votes to egg on the public for personal gain but who don’t have any viable alternative & it’s easy for Constables who are up for re-election soon to do the same.

It’s NOT easy to go for a solution that will be unpopular – sometimes these decisions have to be made.Deputy Brecon etc want the States to reduce costs. That’s fine but seeing most States costs are staff related he & the public are going to have to make some tough decisions & sack tax paying civil servants, manual workers, teachers, nurses, doctors etc. So why doesn’t he just say that? Because he doesn’t have the guts & I suspect most of the public wouldn’t either.

Those that say finance should pay are deliriously out of touch with the finance world outside Jersey. We are in competition with other finance centres & they are doing exactly the same regarding 0-10. If finance left then the affects of GST on the average person would be insignificant to the problems this Island would face – every kind of business would have knock-on effects leading to 1000’s of unemployed.

Unfortunately we are now over reliant on the finance industry but that is not the fault of today’s politicians it’s the fault of those 30 years ago (the so called good old days).Those of you who say the rich should pay more, e.g. 11k residents, are short sighted. These people can live anywhere but choose to live here. All 11k pay at least £100k p.a. in tax – most much more. This may be less than the average person pays compared to earnings but 11k residents consume a lot less in taxes than the average person.

The facts are people should celebrate each time the Island succeeds in convincing one to stay here because any tax we receive from them is more than the fat 0 we would get if they domiciled elsewhere!

The Mission Man
Reference: Richard S. Yes, a way to change this would be to vote in a party standing on an anti-GST platform (and much more!). Sad thing is, Richard, people had that choice last time in 2005 with the excellent (and ever-improving Jersey Democratic Alliance) yet all too many chose to be influenced by the deliberately misleading 'anti'campaigne of Elect Jersey, Walker, Le Sueur's Establishment Party etc and voted instead for the same vested interest driven, incompetent rabble who have got us into this mess! It would be easy to say that actually in these the people of Jersey have got what we deserve! 2008 is coming fast - this time vote JDA and do something positive about all this!

GTR
What annoys me the "most" is the people who come election time vote for people like Terry le suer.The people of Jersey just keep getting bitten.But they keep voting the same old rubbish in everytime.The powers that be want to penalise the old age pensioners and the not so well off. Yet this is at a time when the media report that the island is worth billions.G.S.T greedy sods tax.We are paying six times as much for everything as everywhere else anyway.Oh and finally Jersey peoplestop voting for this old geriatric!!!! and that includes Walker et all.

Montfort Tadier
GST is a subsidy for the very rich who, unlike us, are able to choose how much tax they are willing to pay. We have to foot the bill for them

Richard S
It is great to see what kind of a democracy we live in. Nearly 205 of the population of Jersey has signed a petition telling the government that we do not want GST, and what is there response “GST, as far as I'm concerned, is no longer a live issue, the only issue now is the details of GST and how it's brought into force." A way to change this would be to introduce party politics with a party standing at the next election with a manifesto pledge to scrap GST if they came into power. I am sure that would make Senator le Sueur and his colleagues listen.

Brands
I wish the outdated govt in Jersey would use more efficient ways of raising revenue. Despite the legal need to introduce VAT, the UK Tory govt ended up hurting folks at the bottom end of the socio-economic spectrum - I fear the same will happen in Jersey with this GST tax. In Canada, the govt introduced GST and lost significant political capital as a result.Will there be a large political backlash in Jersey? Will tourists be shocked by a tax haven introducing such a measure? Does the govt in Guernsey need GST? If they don't, they must be laughing at our politicians...

Joe P
I did sign the petition and go to the Royal Square because I really do not want this tax to be introduced. It is expensive enough to live in the island without a tax on our goods and services. It may be a small percentage as the states are saying, but it is going to cost money for businesses to administer it, its going to cost to update the cash registers, its going to cost to obtain a system to keep track of the purchases, its going to cost to submit the tax to the treasury every month. I guarantee these costs will be past down to the consumer, thereby driving up the cost of products and services over the tax and eventually pushing up the cost of living, again. Remember, once this system is in place, there will be nothing stopping the states from increasing to 5%, 10%, 15% or even 17.5% (after the three years grace). Although our objections fall on deaf ears, we really must keep pushing. Write/email/call them constantly telling them about your objections for this socially damaging tax. Remember they work for us!

Kelvin Moon
It wont be a tax of 3% for long. We already pay the equivalent of VAT on most goods. This just adds to the burden. This is the most dangerous idea to the islands economy and must be stopped.

Justin
Unfortunately, nothing that the people of Jersey do will change the minds of our government. It doesn't matter to them if the people of Jersey are happy with one of their decisions, they are doing what they believe is best for the island. Perhaps if they stopped wasting huge amounts of tax payers money on pointless exercises (Jersey logo for instance) they wouldn't have such a "massive" black hole in their budget. It's not like we can vote the offenders out... they are all part of the "old boys club" and have the same agenda!Time to leave methinks!

GST Opponent
It would appear to me that GST is being used as the easy option for the States to continue to raise revenue for their continual overspending rather than cut their costs. Face the facts Terry; now you are in power you completely ignore the public opinion. A referendum on GST is the only way you will see the how the voting public feel. Ignore our feelings at your peril!

Bobby Grant
I think the ministers in Jersey should have a serious re-think on GST. There has to be other ways of raising required funds. A belt tightening exercise, such as what the UK civil service have used, enforcing efficency measures to make savings, would be my suggestion. As a regular visitor to Jersey, as much as I love the place, I would not return to be penalised with this unfair tax. I also feel sorry for the normal people of Jersey, who are going to be hurt the most by this tax.