Jersey Budget 2019 Proposals

Jersey Budget 2019 Proposals

The Budget will be debated on 4 December 2018. We have summarised the key measures from the proposals below.

The changes are proposed to be effective from Year of Assessment 2019.

Personal Exemptions & Allowances

• Personal tax allowance for individuals to be increased to £15,400
• Personal tax allowance for married couples to be increased to £24,800
• Second earners allowance to be increased to £6,000
• Removal of the Higher Child Allowance for parents with children aged 17 or over in full-time higher education

High Value Residents

• Inclusion of Jersey rental income received by HVRs within their minimum income tax contribution. Currently this is taxed at 20% in addition to their minimum contribution.

Non-Resident Individuals

• Low worldwide income tax relief: if a non-resident’s worldwide income is less than the Jersey personal tax allowance, they can make a claim for relief which will reduce their Jersey tax bill to nil. Currently non-residents do not get a personal allowance in Jersey.
• Reduced rate relief: if a non-resident’s worldwide income is more than the Jersey personal tax allowance, they can make a claim for relief from any foreign tax paid on their other worldwide income to reduce their effective Jersey tax rate to below 20%. This is designed to prevent double taxation however the reduced rate will only apply to low-middle earners as it is capped.

Pensions

• Removal of the ability to access more than 30% of your pension tax free where your pension value is below £35,000.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

• First time buyer’s relief: increase of the nil rate band of SDLT to £350,000, the 1% band to £450,000, and tapered relief to £500,000.
• Elimination of SDLT on mortgages for properties up to £600,000, and a reduced rate for properties between £600,000 to £700,000.
• These reliefs will be funded by a 0.5% increase on SDLT to properties over £500,000.

Tax Administration

• The personal tax return deadline to be changed to 31 May following Year of Assessment (31 July if you have an agent).
• Late filing penalty to be increased to £300 from £250.
• Payments on account for companies is to be changed to 31 May and 30 November following the Year of Assessment.
• Payments on account for “large” companies is to be changed to 31 March and 30 September following the Year of Assessment. Large is defined as a    tax liability greater than £500,000 in the preceding two tax years.
• For companies, the return deadline will remain at 31 December however the deadline for submitting the company accounts will be 30 November.
• All companies will be required to submit accounts to the Taxes Office from YOA 2019 onwards.

To discuss the implications of any of these proposals please contact Hannah Roynon-Jones, Tax Manager.

For a more detailed look at the proposed Jersey 2019 Budget it is available online HERE