Protests against Jersey’s 2011 budget proposals

Manual workers, business leaders and pensioners have launched campaigns to fight proposed tax rises in Jersey. The opposition movements against increases to the sales tax, GST, and social security payments are being spearheaded by Age Concern, the Chamber of Commerce, the Jersey Hospitality Association (JHA) , the Jersey Democratic Alliance, and unions.

A mass rally is being organised by Unite, the union that represents hundreds of manual and other workers, to call for the treasury minister, Philip Ozouf, to scrap the proposed rise in GST. Ozouf plans to increase GST from three per cent to five per cent in the 2011 budget, which is due to be debated early December. If agreed, the new rate would come into force next June.

The JHA, which represents hoteliers and restaurateurs, has called on the minister not to put GST up by more than one per cent.

Meanwhile, the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Ray Shead, has told business leaders that that taxes were being raised by stealth through increases in social security payments. Shead explained that the effective tax rate for self-employed islanders would become 25.5 per cent because of the impact of new tax rules and the planned rise in social security.

However Ozouf said that he was standing firm to safeguard the island