A UK tax expert claimed that documentation before the scrutiny panel showed that the committee’s projection had increased by £15 million in three months.
Richard Murphy, who was sitting as a special adviser to the scrutiny panel looking at a sales tax, said Finance were now forecasting a revenue loss of between £100 and £110 million as a result of the new ‘zero-ten’ tax regime forced on the States by finance industry developments.
If he is right, the recently agreed goods and services tax could have to rise well above the three per cent levy due to be introduced on just about everything in 2008.
By his own calculations, he believes the black hole could be as large as £120 million, and as such a higher sales tax, and possibly other levies, could be needed.
However, Senator Le Sueur was sticking to the publicised projection of between £80m and £100m.
He told the scrutiny panel that it was possible a mistake had been made with the figures cited by Mr Murphy, adding his accounting was ‘robust’.
‘We won’t know for sure until 2012,’ he said.
