Tax reform calculator launched in Guernsey

Guernsey's Policy and Resources Committee (P&R) has created an online calculator to help people see how tax reform proposals aiming to raise £50m a year could affect them.

P&R said it meant "anyone can now get a sense on whether they personally would be better or worse off if that package were to be introduced".

Deputy Lindsay De Sausmarez, President of P&R, said the calculator had been launched following questions from islanders about the proposals.

She said: "There's been so much confusion and uncertainty about what this package might mean for people... Because it does affect individual households finances so directly, we thought it would be a really useful thing to do."

The calculator asked people to enter financial details, including their income, savings, benefits and expenditure, and no details were saved, bosses said.

De Sausmarez told BBC Guernsey that, if introduced, the General Sales Tax (GST) would be part of a package of measures, including reduction in income tax and social security contributions, pensions and other benefits going up.

She said: "Even after GST has been applied, the modelling shows a majority of households would be better off than they are now because of those other changes."

P&R said it was exploring alternatives to the tax package and would present its recommendations "on what kind of tax reform would work best in Guernsey" in the summer.