Treasury Minister Alfred Cannan says it is critically important for residents and businesses to take part in an income and expenditure survey being carried out this year.

In March 2016 the island entered into a new indirect tax-sharing arrangement with the UK, which calculates our VAT share on actual consumption.

Since then the share has been calculated on a provisional basis by indexation of the 2013/14 share at 4.5% per annum.

In 2018-19 the figures has climbed to £339.8m, some way above the low point of £252m in 2012 following the UK’s raids on the VAT deal in 2009 and 2011.

But under the Fersa agreement, the Manx government has to be rebase our VAT share every five years which is where this year’s household income and expenditure survey comes in.

Mr Cannan told Tynwald in his Budget speech: ’The Fersa surveys are therefore of critical importance to the island in terms of our fair share of VAT and other duties not just in 2018-19 but from 2014-15 and right the way through to the next survey year in 2023-24.

’I cannot stress strongly enough their importance.’

Residents can volunteer for the survey by clicking https://www.gov.im/about-the-government/departments/cabinet-office/economic-affairs-division/2018-isle-of-man-household-income-and-expenditure-survey/

You can then provide you contact details, confidentially.

Participants will be paid a £15 gratuity per person for all household members, and the Economic Affairs Division is running a monthly raffle prize of £1,000 for each month over the course of the study.

In his Budget, the Treasury Minister also announced that the planned introduction of the soft drinks industry levy, unveiled last year, has been put on hold for 12 months.

He explained this was to allow levy to be brought in a shared duty with the UK.

He also announced a freeze on road fuel duty for the seventh year in a row.

The £13 basic rate of Air Passenger Duty is also frozen for 2018-19

Mr Cannan said it remained the intention of the Manx government to remain in customs union with the UK post-Brexit.