GST in Jersey: Should You Be Paying It, Can You Claim It Back, and Why Doesn't Guernsey Have It?

Jersey's 5% tax looks tiny on a receipt — until you try to run a business, order from the UK, or visit from overseas. Here's how it really works.

If you run a business in Jersey or you just live here and shop here, you have almost certainly asked this question at the till: is that GST right?

At 5%, Jersey's Goods and Services Tax looks small, especially if you're used to the UK's 20% VAT, but it causes a surprising amount of confusion. Who has to charge it, what happens when you order from Amazon or pop over to Guernsey for the day, and can you ever get it back?

As someone who spends a lot of time listing and visiting local businesses for Buy.je, I wanted to lay it all out properly.

A Short History: Low, Broad and Simple

Jersey's GST is young as taxes go:

• Introduced 6th May 2008 at 3%
• Raised to 5% in June 2011 — and unchanged ever since
• Rate today: 5% on the majority of goods and services supplied in Jersey for local use, including imports

Unlike UK VAT, there aren't three different rates and endless arguments about whether a Jaffa Cake is a cake or a biscuit. Jersey deliberately kept it low, broad and simple.

Only a handful of things are zero-rated or exempt, including:

• Exports
• Most financial services
• Doctors and medical services
• Charities
• School fees where the school is a registered charity

For a normal shop, cafe, tradesperson or hotel on King Street or in St Aubin? Assume GST applies.

At around £132m a year, GST is only about 10% of government revenue — income tax still pays for more than half our public services — but it gives the Island a stable income without scaring off business.

Should GST Be Charged? It Depends on the Seller

This is the part most people get wrong. Whether you should pay GST depends entirely on whether the seller is GST-registered.

The rule: A business must register with Revenue Jersey once its taxable turnover goes over £300,000 in any rolling 12-month period. Below that, registration is voluntary.

What that means in practice:

• Not registered = must NOT charge GST — and cannot reclaim GST on its own purchases
• Registered = must charge 5%, show its GST registration number on your receipt or invoice, collect it from you, and pay it to Revenue Jersey every quarter

If you're ever unsure, look at the receipt. A proper GST receipt will break out the 5% separately and show a GST number.

Why Small Businesses Often Look Cheaper

That £300,000 threshold is why you'll notice a difference around town:

• Your freelance gardener, small maker at Beresford Street Market, or B&B doing modest turnover may legitimately add no GST at all
• Tesco, Sandpiper, large builders or electricians turning over serious money will add 5% to almost everything

It doesn't mean the small business is cheaper to run. Because they can't reclaim GST on stock, tools or materials, that unclaimed GST is just baked into their costs. It's why accountants here often advise growing firms to register voluntarily a little early, so they can start reclaiming input tax before they are forced to.

Ordering From Outside Jersey: The £60 Rule

Imports are where most islanders actually feel GST, because we import almost everything.

Since 1st July 2023, large overseas retailers who sell more than £300,000 a year to consumers in Jersey have to register for Jersey GST and charge you 5% at the checkout. Your Amazon, Shein or UK high-street order will often already include Jersey GST and sail straight through.

If the retailer is not registered, Jersey Customs collects it instead:

• Parcels by post / courier: GST due if value is over £60 — including postage, any UK VAT, customs or excise duties
  • Under £60 for personal use: no GST (de minimis relief)
  • Over £60: declare on CAESAR and pay within 3 days to release your goods
• Bringing shopping back yourself in luggage:
  • £390 allowance on a commercial airline or ferry
  • £270 allowance on a private boat or plane
  • Plus personal effects, sports equipment for the trip, and normal alcohol / tobacco limits

The UK VAT Double-Tax Trap

I've already paid UK VAT, why am I paying GST again?

Officially, UK guidance says goods exported to Jersey should be sold without UK VAT, but not every retailer does it correctly.

If UK VAT has been charged, Jersey still counts that VAT as part of the value for GST — yes, a tax on a tax.

The fix:

1. Ask the UK retailer for a VAT refund on exports to Jersey
2. Show Revenue Jersey that the VAT was refunded
3. Revenue Jersey will refund the GST charged on that VAT element

It takes paperwork and a polite email, but for a £1,000 sofa or a new laptop it's worth doing. Keep your invoice as evidence.

Can Local Businesses Claim GST Back? Yes

For GST-registered businesses, GST isn't really a cost — it's a pass-through:

• Output tax: 5% you charge on sales
• Input tax: 5% you paid on stock, materials, rent, phones, electricity and overheads
• You pay Revenue Jersey: the difference, on a quarterly return

Other useful points for owners:

• Repayment traders: if you regularly pay more GST than you collect — common for exporters, new fit-outs, or big stock buys — you can apply to file monthly to help cashflow
• Time limit: generally 3 years from the end of the accounting period to claim input tax
• Keep records for 6 years as required by the GST Law
• You can't claim on: staff wages, Social Security contributions, fines, or anything purely private

If you're approaching that £300,000 line, talk to your accountant early.

Visiting Jersey? You Can Now Get GST Refunded

Until recently visitors just swallowed the 5%, but since the digitalised scheme launched with Global Blue in 2025, visitors can claim it back. Visitors using the scheme have already spent £4.6m since early 2025.

Who qualifies as a visitor?

• Non-resident in Jersey
• Present here no more than 60 days in that calendar year
• Aged 16+
• Leaving on a scheduled commercial flight or ferry — not a private boat or plane

How to claim

1. Spend over £100 with a single approved retailer on the same day — check the shop is in the scheme
2. Complete the online Global Blue tax-free form in-store
3. Leave Jersey with the goods within 1 month, unworn and unconsumed
4. Get export validation at the Global Blue kiosk after security at Jersey Airport or Elizabeth Ferry Terminal, with passport / approved ID and original receipts

What you can't claim for

• Services: accommodation, car hire, restaurant meals, tours
• Goods already consumed in Jersey: opened alcohol, perfume, confectionery, etc.
• Tobacco and vapes
• Fuel
• Goods from a non-GST-registered or non-approved shop
• Goods you intend to re-import later

What About Overseas Businesses?

There's a separate route if you're VAT/GST registered in your own country and visit Jersey on business.

You can claim for:

• Hotel accommodation and meals
• Car rental and travel costs
• Trade fairs and exhibitions

Conditions:

• Minimum claim £50, no maximum
• Supply must be for business use — apportion if part-private
• You must not use it to make a sale in Jersey itself
• Your home country must offer a reciprocal refund scheme to Jersey firms
• First claim (and then every 12 months) must include an original certificate of VAT/GST status from your home tax authority

Refunds are usually paid by sterling cheque within two months. Old-fashioned, but it works.

Why Doesn't Guernsey Have GST?

This surprises newcomers: Guernsey currently has no GST and no VAT at all. Walk into a shop in St Peter Port today and there's no consumption tax on the receipt.

That may not last much longer. After years of debate about an ageing population and a funding gap, Guernsey's Policy & Resources Committee has proposed a 2026 Tax Reform Package:

• 3% GST from 2028
• Cuts to income tax, higher allowances, and social security reforms
• Increases to States Pension, income support and other benefits — paid before GST starts
• New Essential Costs Relief Payment for low-income households
• International Services Entity (ISE) scheme copied from Jersey, to raise £10m–£12m from finance — expected to raise £55m a year overall, mostly from businesses
• Around 1,700 businesses would have to register, covering 97% of turnover
• No rate rise before an assurance review in 2030

Deputies were due to debate it on 30th September 2026, and Guernsey's Forward Guernsey party is already talking about a pathway to 5% later to allow deeper reform. In other words, Guernsey is roughly where Jersey was in 2007.

If you run a Buy.je-listed business that also sells to Guernsey, watch this closely — you'll likely need to deal with two systems within a few years.

The Bottom Line

My take, after talking to shop owners for this site, is this: Jersey's 5% GST works precisely because it is boring.

Quick rule of thumb:

• Receipt shows a GST number? The 5% is legitimate
• Importing a parcel? Expect GST over £60
• Flying back with shopping? Remember £390 / £270
• Visiting? Spend over £100 in one shop and find the Global Blue kiosk
• Running a business near £300,000 turnover? Get advice before you cross it

It won't make your weekly shop feel cheap, but compared to paying 20% across the water — or compared to what Guernsey may be about to start paying — we've got it pretty light.