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Roger Bara
Dear Panel,
Thank you for the opportunity to discuss with you the implications of the proposed budget.
Since Marginal Relief was abolished in 2016, I have been paying around £4,000 extra in tax each year. It's totally unsustainable and has had a huge impact on our retirement.
Following our campaign to have this situation rectified, it is noted with relief that not only the Treasury Minister, but every States member who has replied to us, has acknowledged that this change in the tax law was totally unwarranted and unfair on low-earning ex-pats, and also that the legislation was not intended at our income- bracket in the first place.
- The fact that the Treasury Minister has spent time and energy in looking at our predicament, and has come up with a plan to assist, proves beyond doubt that the States got it terribly wrong in 2016.
- According to the new proposals to be debated next month, any benefit to our group will not become available until 2020. Another two years of extreme hardship for us all, despite the acknowledgement that this should never have happened in the first place.
- In these circumstances, the Minister should be working out a method to refund the extra tax paid by ex-pats since 2016, again, based on the knowledge that it was an unfair, unnecessary and accidental burden on low- earning ex-pats.
- In her speech outlining the proposals, the Minister said that the old method of Marginal Relief was hugely complex. Nothing could be more complex than what she is suggesting now – indeed many of us found the mathematics just shy of coherentbut from what I can work out, I will still be paying £3,000 in tax more than if I still lived in Jersey.
- If the new proposals are agreed, there is also a proviso that we would all need to provide written confirmation from the tax authorities in our place of residence, that we pay all the taxes locally that we should. In a third-world country like the one in which I live, this could prove extremely challenging, when nobody has a tax number, corruption is rife, and any interest paid on local saving accounts is taxed at source anyway, and goes straight to the government.
- Finally, the Appeal Commissioners, back in February, (their findings all available if you wish) had this conclusion: "We find that the amendment to Article 6 of the Law has shown to create a level of hardship which it is highly unlikely the legislature intended."
So we need Marginal Relief re-introduced, and compensation paid to redress this injustice. The new proposals simply do not go far enough and are far too complex. How many people does the Minister reckon are affected? 25 or so I think she said. Just do it - the SOJ coffers won't even notice this small amount being given back, which should never have been taken in the first place!
Thank you for your time. Yours
Roger Bara