More than a third of State of Guernsey members say they will vote against Plans to increase income tax.

The island’s Policy and Resources (P&R) Committee has recommended a temporary 2p increase in income tax as the main measure of the 2025 budget.

BBC Guernsey contacted all 40 State members, 15 said they would vote against the plan, only six were committed to voting.

P&R Deputy Chairman Lyndon Trott said he was “confident that States will make the right decision for the short- and medium-term future of the island”.

BBC Guernsey asked members for their views on some of the proposed changes to the budget, which will be discussed at the State meeting starting on 5 November.

These included whether they would support P&R’s income tax plans. MP Peter Roffey’s proposals for a package that includes a 5% Goods and Services Tax (GST) or MP Mark Helyar’s austerity proposals.

The majority of 16 members has not yet made a final decision. Two members were expected to be off-island for the vote, and one member did not respond.

Thirteen MPs said they would support Mr Roffey’s plans, which include lower income tax rates and social security reform.

Education, Sport and Culture (ESC) Chairperson Andrea Dudley-Owen described the GST package as “much fairer and strategically better for the island in the long term”.

Mr Helyar’s plans to freeze State budgets next year are backed by five State members; 18 members say they will vote against his proposal.

Charles Parkinson MP and Liam McKenna MP paid for an advert on Facebook urging State members to vote against plans to raise income tax and introduce a GST.

Mr Parkinson has proposed changes to Guernsey’s corporation tax system and is supported by Mr McKenna, who supports the proposal.

He said: “I’m not saying it’s the worst budget in history, but it’s certainly at the top.”

One member who said she was undecided on how to vote on all three amendments was MP Sasha Kazantseva-Miller, who, along with MP Dave Mahoney, sent a dossier to State members examining the impact of P&R’s proposals and Roffey’s tax reform plan.

“This analysis makes clear that an income tax-based package would make most households worse off,” he said.

“While the impact may be mitigated somewhat for low-income households by restructuring Social Security contributions, most households would still be better off under the GST package.”

Four members, including MP Simon Vermeulen and Deputy Health and Social Care Deputy Chairman Al Brouard, said they could “support” P&R’s plans but wanted to hear the debate first.

ESC member Andy Cameron said he would not support any of the main proposals for tax rises or spending cuts.

He said more work needs to be done on financing savings through digital transformation before taxes are increased.

Both Alderney representatives told the BBC they were undecided on whether they would support any of the proposals in the budget and whether they would listen to the debate.

They supported the old P&R committee’s GST package last year.

The last time lawmakers discussed reforming the island’s tax system was in 2023, when a proposal was introduced to increase income tax. It was rejected by 30 votes to 10.

Plans to introduce GST they were also defeated by 25 votes to 15.