A tax on new car sales was introduced in the island in January

States members heard Vehicle Registration Duty (VRD) raised �2.6m, according to figures released by the Finance Committee.

The duty was introduced in January and applies to new car sales.

The current budget proposal from Finance is to raise it by 25%, but this has prompted three amendments following protests from the motor trade.

Revenue raiser

The income from VRD next year is estimated at �3.6m at the current rate, rising to just about �5m with the proposed increase.

The committee said it thought there would be close to 6,000 new car sales next year, up almost 1,000 on the estimate for this year.

Finance admits VRD is an efficient revenue raiser, but says it plans to review its impact next month to see if it needs to be adjusted.

Meanwhile, Jersey politicians have accepted an amendment to reduce the duty on alcohol while increasing the duty on cigarettes.

It had been proposed by Deputy Patrick Ryan.

He argued the States had not yet debated the island's alcohol strategy and increases in alcohol duty were more harmful to tourism than if cigarettes cost more.

It means Deputy Lyndon Farnham's amendments to impot duties will not be debated.