Senior politicians call for the island to break the “thrall of Whitehall” following the VAT loophole closure.
A number of senior ministers have called for 
Jersey to make preparations to declare independence from the UK in the wake of what is deemed a sustained attack on the Channel Island’s’ controversial financial industry, reports the Guardian.
Jersey’s tax, legal and regulatory framework is noted as having been structured to attract wealthy individuals and multinational businesses and has recently been commonly targeted by politicians in the UK. The Low Value Consignment Relief (LVCR) loophole which enabled suppliers to import or re-import goods into the UK VAT-free was recently abolished on 1 April.
A number of individuals had expressed dissatisfaction with the loophole, with a number of cartridge resellers stating that the “vast majority” of cartridges were previously shipped from the Channel Islands. With the loophole abolished, a number of VARs had began to return to the UK in late March, although Jersey Chief Ministry Ian Gorst was keen to distance the island from some of the negative reception: “There is no wish or need to accommodate or give encouragement to those who seek to involve Jersey in aggressive tax planning schemes to avoid UK Tax [but] I don’t think it’s the place of our government to comment on the moral application of activity which is legal.”
Assistant Chief Minister Sir Philip Bailhache has noted in an interview with the Guardian that the relations between the island and the UK made it “very plain” that Jersey’s interest did not align with Britain.
“I feel that we get a raw deal. I feel it’s not fair… I think that the duty of Jersey politicians now is to try and explain what the island is doing and not to take things lying down. The island should be prepared to stand up for itself and should be ready to become independent if it were necessary in Jersey’s interest to do so.
“I hope that the constitutional relationship with the UK will continue. But if it becomes plain that our interests in fact lie in being independent it doesn’t seem to be that we should bury our head in the sand and say we’re not going to do that.”
A number of individuals have spoken out in support of legally permitted tax schemes, including Julian Winser, head of Schroders’ Channel Islands private banking arm and President of Guernsey Chamber of Commerce: “The principle of the free market is that [legal tax avoidance] is available to all – even if some of them can’t reach it. You could argue exactly the same thing from a job perspective by dint of the fact someone didn’t have the right education. Ultimately the politics of envy creeps into it.”
Jersey has been extensively campaigning to reduce the dependency on the UK and Europe, and has recruited representatives in Abu Dhabi, China and is said to be considering a bureau in Brazil. Jersey has also made steps to represent its own international relations instead of relying on Britain, having already forged relations in Brussels.