Removal of tax return reminders catches out thousands

Wednesday 14 April 2021

More than 5,000 penalties of £200 were sent out to people who had not completed a tax return for 2019, after the States of Guernsey decided not to issue reminders.

The decision was made at the tail end of last year to stop sending reminder letters direct to the public as a deadline extension had already been publicised.

Previous guidance from the States, captured on 30 November 2020, stated that: "before a penalty is imposed, the Guernsey Revenue Service will give at least one month's warning to the affected customers by letter." 

The States' guidance was then removed, although the exact date on which that happened could not be ascertained.

Pictured: An appeals form can be found online for those who think they have been incorrectly penalised.

Since then, the Revenue Service said it would "continue to make sure the community is aware" of the new deadline date through social media instead of direct correspondence. 

Despite this, 5,500 penalties of £200 each were issued to people who had not completed a tax return for 2019.

“Whilst checks were undertaken prior to the issue of the penalty notices, it has been identified that some penalty notices were issued in error,” said a spokesperson for the Revenue Service.

“Where this is the case, the penalty will be rescinded and an apology given to the customer. The cause of these errors will be investigated.”

The spokesman continued: “In previous years a reminder was issued to customers in early December prior to the issue of penalties in January.

“However, with giving a further 3 months to file returns (later extended to 4 months), it was announced in September that reminders would not be issued to customers. The Revenue Service has continued to make sure the community is aware of the new deadline date through social media and the traditional media ahead of the end of March.”