Proposals for a sales tax have caused divisions

Philip Ozouf, vice president of Finance and Economics, said other measures such as a capital gains tax or company tax would not raise enough money and could damage the economy.

He said any new tax should contribute significantly to the �100m debt.

But it should not affect Jersey's position as a competitive offshore finance centre.

He said: "The committee welcomes alternative ideas, but remains of the view that the arguments in favour of some form of goods and services tax are persuasive when compared with the relative merits of most of the alternatives.

"As most jurisdictions already have some form of goods and services tax, this is not perhaps an unsurprising conclusion."