GST vote planned for early 2026

Deputy Charles Parkinson is leading the tax sub-committee

Guernsey's States will vote on whether to include a GST on food in "early 2026", according to the politician leading a review of the island's tax system.

In an update to the States, deputy Charles Parkinson said a review of how much tax was paid by companies in Guernsey should be complete by the end of March 2026.

He said he hoped the States could make a final decision on tax reform by the end of June 2026.

Last year, Guernsey's States approved a package of tax reforms, including a 5% GST, lower income tax rates and social security reforms.

Four people have been appointed to the tax review sub-committee which Parkinson is leading:

• Bill Dodwell, former head of tax policy at Deloitte.

• Professor of tax law at the University of Cambridge, Peter Harris.

• Mike Williams, former director of business and international tax at HM Treasury.

• Tony Mancini, former tax partner at KPMG and head of tax for the Crown Dependencies.

'Cannot be kicked down the road'

Upon the announcement of the members of the sub-committee, Parkinson said there was "an urgent need" for tax reform.

He said the meetings of this group would be as open as possible to the public and politicians.

Parkinson said: "This cannot be an issue that continues to be kicked down the road and that is a key test for this new States.

"We want to make sure the assembly has all the necessary information to allow them to make an informed final decision before the end of quarter two next year."

Gavin St Pier is also part of the new sub-committee

Vice-President of Policy and Resources Gavin St Pier is also part of the new sub-committee and re-committed to continuing work on introducing a GST by 2027, whilst this work continued.

"P&R is in no way pre-judging either our final recommendation to the Assembly, or its decision," he said.

St Pier stressed the committee would also be looking at "expenditure restraint" when the budget is announced next month.

He committed to a manifesto which asked for "a 1% reduction in baseline spending for each year from 2026."