Trinity tops the tax charts

Tuesday 24 July 2018

If you ever imagined that the beach bums of St. Brelade, surfing St. Ouennais, or the Gorey-gazers of St Martin were sitting on the biggest pile of Jersey dosh – you’d be wrong.

New official figures suggest that Trinity could be home to the island’s wealthiest people, with residents paying, on average, more than double the amount of tax than those living in town.

Data obtained under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Law cross-referenced with the latest taxpayer figures provided to Express, show that the residents of the parish famed for Jersey Zoo and one of the UK’s best beaches, Bouley Bay, paid the most tax per person on average - over two-and-a-half times those living in St. Helier.

Latest statistics show that islanders paid £393million in income tax in 2016.

Taxpaying Trinity dwellers were saddled with average bills of around £13,484 per person in 2016, totalling £19million of the overall £393million paid in income tax in 2016. 

Pictured: The parish home to Bouley Bay paid the most tax in 2016. (Google Maps)

Despite pulling in over £100million in total – nearly a quarter of the States’ overall income tax revenue – town’s 16,340 taxpayers paid around £6,181 a year on average.

St. Martin and St. Mary came second and third in the ‘wealth’ stakes, with both home to residents paying bills in excess of £13,000. But while St. Martin split its £22million in total tax takings between over 1,660 taxpayers, St Mary had just 765 contributors. 

St. John handed £16million to the States of Jersey via 1,298 payers (roughly £12,300 each), while Grouville and St. Ouen’s working population handed over nearly £11,900 and £11,600 respectively per person.

The 4,796 payers of heavily-populated St. Brelade gave £51million – the second highest parish total - but their per person average (£10,633) placed it in the lowest third of the parish wealth rankings.

Contributions per person then drop further in neighbouring St. Peter (£9,869). 

Pictured: St. Helier contributed the highest in tax overall, but the lowest per person.

But it was, perhaps unsurprisingly, the urban parishes with the very lowest tax bills. St. Clement (£8,409), St. Saviour (£7,419) and St. Helier (£6,181) that ranked bottom of the tax-based parish rich list.

The numbers of taxpayers came in the most recent edition of the Taxes Office’s Statistical Digest, which also revealed that taxpayers within the 5% with the highest income pay nearly a third of the island’s overall income tax takings, while the top 20% pay two thirds.

The fifth of taxpayers with the lowest income contribute 2%. 

Although the island’s wealthiest residents appeared to be concentrated within the most rural parishes, estate agents specialising in luxury properties told Connect Magazine that dynamic is slowly shifting.

The island has a growing population of youthful high-value residents who are increasingly shunning traditional manor houses for ‘turn-key’ properties with modern features in more ‘urban’ zones.

Nigel Hurst, Broadlands Director and high-value client manager, said that sea views are the “big thing” for the young and wealthy, but they also appreciate proximity to the airport for business travels. That combination is making St. Brelade a particular sweet spot, although education prioritisers are increasingly compromising their beachy ideals for what agents call “the golden triangle” – the leafy eastern zones surrounding the island’s private schools.