“Don’t tax online shopping!” - readers

Wednesday 27 August 2014

Bailiwick Express readers have come out strongly against dropping the GST threshold for online shopping, saying that politicians shouldn’t start charging GST on more of what we order from the web.

The States are reviewing the GST rules, and considering whether to change the £240 threshold below which you don’t have to pay 5% GST on things imported to Jersey. At the moment, anything you import below that £240 threshold isn’t liable for GST – but that means that there isn’t a level-playing field for retailers here, who do have to charge the tax.

The Treasury department promised to review the rules by December in a response to a recent Scrutiny report on the retail sector, but when Bailiwick Express carried the story last week, the comments on the website and on our Facebook page were overwhelmingly against change, with several citing the lack of choice in Jersey as one of the reasons that they shop online.

Your comments on the story included:

“Maybe local businesses should take off VAT and then people may not order online. I understand rents are high but they would sell more if they just took off VAT and added GST.” 

“The fact remains that there is better choice and great deals online and you have the convenience of shopping from home. Adding GST to all imports would make little difference to most people who choose to shop from home.”

“Stop wasting money before you try taking more off of taxpayers. I am a retailer and 5% won't make a scrap of difference against the likes of Amazon who can sell product for less than I can buy it for.” 

“Stupid idea, even with GST goods online are still far cheaper the local shops who add on shipping, VAT, GST, and a bit more for rent and staff, the government need to get a grip.”