Treasury Minister Dr Alex Allinson on the Isle of Man Government Budget 2024

Transcript

00:00 We've gone through a period of high inflation, increased public spending but

00:05 also increased demand for key services such as health care. What we're doing in

00:09 this budget is balancing that by increasing the up rate of income tax

00:13 from 20 to 22 percent and ring-fencing that for health care so we can continue

00:18 to invest in our NHS. Now, twin to that we're also bringing in corporation taxes as

00:23 well for certain large companies and trying to balance out that income that

00:29 we're taking both the people and companies on the Isle of Man to make sure we have a

00:33 sustainable plan going forward. Do you think the public will understand the thinking behind this?

00:38 One of my roles is to explain why I think it's absolutely essential that we

00:42 maintain high quality public services but to do that we need to grow our

00:47 economy and in the short term we need to increase taxation to balance the books

00:52 rather than constantly draw down on reserves. So what I'll be setting out in

00:56 the budget is that medium-term financial plan so we can get back to a

01:00 completely balanced budget but still invest in our island for the future economy.

01:05 I think it's the first income tax rise since 2011, it must be a difficult decision for any Treasury Minister to make.

01:15 It's an extremely difficult decision and I apologise for having to do this but at the same time what we're

01:20 trying to do is make sure that departmental spending is kept under

01:23 control, that departments are far more efficient, that they provide

01:28 value for money and that they spend the money that the taxpayers gives them in

01:32 the best way possible for our future.