During a Government Plan special briefing on Friday afternoon States Treasurer Richard Bell and other high-ranking civil servants outlined the extent of the economic damage that had been caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The session was the first of two parts of a briefing on the plan, which outlines government finances for 2021 to 2024 and which was due to be published in full at midday today.
Limited detail was provided on how the government might seek to address the looming deficit in public finances but it was revealed that numerous reviews of the Island’s taxation systems were taking place.
Examples include work being carried out to assess the taxation of vaping and medicinal-cannabis businesses, as well as a review of stamp duty and GST regimes.
Officials also gave a glimpse of what can be expected in the Treasury Minister’s budget for 2021, which is due to be debated before the end of the year.
There was good news for the hospitality industry and drinkers with…
