Tax payer assessments and previous FOI response (FOI)

Request

In a recent FoI answer, it was stated that HNW taxpayers, who are 20 in number, paid £10.5 million in income tax. The 38,201 people on marginal rate pay £190.9 million and 6,336 people pay tax of £162.8 million at 20%.

A.

Are the 20 1(1)(k ) individuals included in the 6,336?

B.

The Minister this week stated that 10% of Islanders pay 51% of income tax. Would the Department please explain and reconcile these figures?

Response

Part four of the previous response confirmed there are 20 High Net Worth Individuals who reside in Jersey under Housing Regulation 2(1) (e) (formerly known as 1(1) (k)) and who pay at a prescribed rate of income tax (ie at a rate other than 20%). 

The response went on to state that this prescribed rate was in addition to these individuals paying 20% tax on the first tranche of their income.

Information on tax payers for assessment years 2013 and 2014 (FOI)

Part seven of the same response stated the amount of tax payable by all High Net Worth Individuals, to include those that pay at a prescribed rate, was £10,528,345 (ie this amount was paid by all High Net Worth Individuals and not just by the 20 referred to in part four).

With regard to the specific questions:

A.

Yes, the 20 2(1) (e) individuals are included in the 6,336 people that pay tax at 20%.

B.

The minister’s comment was based on information provided to him in March this year by the Taxes Office. The specific data behind the percentages quoted is as follows:

Explanatory notes re part B of the response

The data is based on the position as at 5 March 2015.

Islanders in the context of the information provided include personal taxpayers and personal non taxpayers.

The data excludes individuals / married couples / civil partnerships who are registered with the Taxes Office but who are either:

I. not required to complete an income tax return because the Taxes Office is satisfied that their total annual income is consistently below the tax exemption thresholds (eg their sole source of income is an old age pension or their sole source of income arises from employment which is consistently below the tax exemption threshold); or

II. non residents for income tax purposes.

A personal taxpayer is defined as an individual / married couple / civil partnership who has completed an income tax return and calculated to have a positive income tax liability greater than £50 for the tax year, based on the income, allowances and deductions, for the year.

A personal non taxpayer is defined as an individual/married couple/civil partnership which has completed an income tax return and does not have a positive income tax liability for the tax year, based on the income, allowances, reliefs and deductions for the year.

Both individual taxpayers and individual non taxpayers include:

• single individuals
  
• married couples / civil partnerships that have not opted for separate assessments (counted as one individual taxpayer or one individual non taxpayer)
  
• married couples / civil partners that have opted for separate assessments (counted as two individual taxpayers or two individual non taxpayers)
  

Tax payable is the amount the taxpayer is due to pay to the treasury, which is collected via ITIS or made by direct payment.