IoD Calls For Efficiency Drive Before New Taxes In Jersey

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

13 June 2002

The Jersey Branch of the Institute of Directors has joined calls for the States authorities to streamline expenditure before considering the introduction of new taxes, according to the Jersey Evening Post.

The JEP reveals that, following a series of public meetings and consultations on ways to bridge the jurisdiction's predicted funding gap, the IoD has issued three recommendations for the Finance and Economics Committee to consider.

The first and most important of these, according to the report, is a pan-departmental review designed to reduce waste and duplication within the various governmental departments.

'We believe that a major limitation of past States reviews has been that they have been conducted on a department by department basis, which makes it far more difficult to identify and eliminate duplication,' IoD Jersey Chairman, Charles Clarke explained to the newspaper. 'We are recommending that a review is conducted which has the scope to identify, for example, the top 20 inefficiencies by value in the Jersey public sector.'

The Institute of Directors also recommended implementing some form of pay-as-you-earn scheme in order to address the concerns of Jersey residents over the amount of temporary labour employed on the Island, and lastly recommended broadening the jurisdiction's tax base by tweaking allowances.

'With some 30% of the Jersey population paying no tax, a large group of people have no incentive to consider economic choices relating to public services,' Mr Clarke told the Jersey Evening Post on Tuesday. 'We believe that more people should be brought into the tax net, albeit at low levels of charge. This move would also better align Jersey with the 'user pays' principle.'

However, the IoD head concluded that the majority of Jersey's population would prefer to see expenditure reduced before current taxes are increased or new ones introduced. This assertion has been borne out by the public response at several meetings recently held on the subject.

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