Select a region
New figures show that 19% of wealthy residents who moved to Jersey between 2005 and 2011 failed to pay the amount of income tax which was expected when their move was agreed.
The response to a request under the Freedom of Information law says for three consecutive years (2012, 2013, 2014) up to eight out of the 42 wealthy residents who came here under the old system failed to meet the income predicted from them.
The situation is different for those wealthy residents who have moved to the Island since 2011, when the requirements changed - all those who fall into this bracket have met their expected payments.
Like everyone else, how much HVRs – High Value Residents – pay in income tax is based on their taxable income. If they earn more money they pay more in tax, if they earn less their bill drops.
In a Ministerial Decision in December 2010, the then Housing Minister, expected HVRs living in the Island to be paying around £125,000 in income tax a year.
Although it doesn’t give any figures, the reply says some HVRs who didn’t met their expected tax bill one year, ‘overpaid’ in another year because business was good and they made more money than anticipated. There is also no indication of by how much HVRs fell short of their expected bills.
The response says: "Currently, the Taxes Office are only able to charge income tax on a taxpayer’s taxable income. This statement applies equally to HVRs as to all other taxpayers. The Taxes Office charges income tax on the entire taxable income of each HVR and hence, although certain HVRs are not meeting their ‘expected’ minimum income tax contribution, the Treasury is not ‘losing out’ on any income tax. Each HVR is paying the amount of income tax that they owe based on their taxable income and the Taxes Office cannot make them pay any more."
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.