This arose from the attempt of the States of Jersey to charge GST on the rents of the markets.
This has caused somewhat of a rebellion amongst stallholders with many refusing to pay the GST, I on the other hand took the legal approach and served on the Inspector of Markets a NOTICE OF UNDERSTANDING AND INTENT which stated the following:
1) That the rents on the Public Markets were not 'commercial rents' as there was no intention for the rents to give rise to a profit, as specified under the 1885 Law.
2) That when the GST bill was debated the Minister stated that the intention was for the suppliers to absorb the cost of GST and that I therefore could not believe that the very same Minister would now act in a contrary manner and try to pass on the GST where he was the supplier.
3) That there was no provision in the lease for the charging of GST.
We have now moved on three weeks and there has been no response so I have served the Inspector of Markets with a NOTICE OF DEFAULT.
Theoretically you should only be required to serve notices on the person and the judicial greffier (jgreffe@gov.je) to have them entered into the public record, but let us see what happens.
NOTICE OF DEFAULT
AFFIDAVIT OF NOTICE
TO: INSPECTOR OF MARKETS
YOU ARE HEREBY NOTICED that you are in default of an opportunity to respond to the NOTICE OF UNDERSTANDING AND INTENT by your failure to answer said NOTICE. The NOTICE was sent to you on or around the 10th December 2012 by electronic mail. You were given the opportunity to rebut the claims made.
IN ABSENCE of such response, Darius James Pearce, hereby inserts and records this NOTICE OF DEFAULT upon and against you pursuant to both the Common Law and the Customary Law of the Island of Jersey and its Dependencies, into the public record.
WHEREAS such actions now shall be taken in accordance to the procedures set forth in the NOTICE OF UNDERSTANDING AND INTENT defaulted.
Being that:
1) You accept that the rentals on the stalls and shops of the Public Markets are not commercial rents primarily, but not exclusively, because they are not intended to make a profit, as confirmed by the Loi (1885) touchant l’administration des Marchés Publics, The making of profit being one of the elements necessary in Law to define a transaction as being a transaction in commerce.
2) That the attempt to levy a charge in respect of Goods and Services Tax was made in error and is not in fact due.
3) That you accept the payment of rent without the erroneously claimed addition in respect of Goods and Services Tax to be a full and final payment.
Such payment will be made at the expiration of the standard period in which a response to this NOTICE may be made.
I, Darius James Pearce, have personal knowledge of the above facts, am competent to testify to the above facts, and declare that the foregoing is true, correct and complete under the penalty of perjury.In theory, should the above notice likewise go unanswered, then after 14 days the rental payable will be just the rental and will not be subject to GST and no further discussion need take place.
