Taxation of Google (FOI)

Request

Tax charged by Google.

Does the States of Jersey receive tax income from Google who charge tax on everything they sell? If so are there any plans to stop this practice?

Response

Members of the Taxes Office are prohibited from disclosing information by virtue of Part 3 and Schedule 1 to the Income Tax (Jersey) Law 1961 whereby the Comptroller and Officers of that department take an Oath of Office before the Royal Court which provides, inter alia, that:

“you will not disclose any information which may come to your knowledge in the performance of your duties, except to such persons only as shall act in execution of the said laws and where it shall be necessary to disclose the same to them for the purposes of the said laws, or in so far as you may be required to disclose the same for the purposes or in the course of a prosecution for an offence against the said laws.”

Therefore, the information requested is absolutely exempt information under Article 29 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011, because the disclosure of the information by the Scheduled Public Authority holding it is prohibited by or under an enactment.

Exemption applied:

Article 29 - Other prohibitions or restrictions

Information is absolutely exempt information if the disclosure of the information by the scheduled public authority holding it –

(a) is prohibited by or under an enactment;

(b) is incompatible with a European Union or an international obligation that applies to Jersey; or

(c) would constitute or be punishable as a contempt of court.