£140k role created at Revenue Service

Wednesday 15 January 2025

Changes are being made at the very top of Guernsey's Revenue Service with the most senior role being split so that two separate people are responsible for it.

The current Director of the Revenue Service is staying on, but will be given a new role focused on domestic and international policy development.

Nicky Forshaw will be working under the title 'Director of Tax Policy' going forward.

Her new colleague will be employed as 'Director of the Revenue Service' and they will be focused on the delivery of the islands revenue service. That role will include "making further improvements in the customer experience".

Pictured: Nicky Forshaw will be the island's 'Director of Tax Policy' going forward.

The decision to split the role was made by the States Treasurer who recently carried out a review of the work being done by Mrs Forshaw as Director of the Revenue Service.

Bethan Haines said that review convinced her that the role had too many responsibilities and the operational and policy functions should be separated.

"The Revenue Service continues to go through a number of changes aimed at improving the services islanders receive," said Ms Haines.

"As is the case with many roles in the public sector, particularly at a senior level, they tend to expand over time as demands on services increase. In the case of the role of Director of the Revenue Service, the postholder is responsible for the delivery of both the service itself – the collection of income tax, contributions and from this year operation of the Secondary Pension scheme – and the development and introduction of policy. An example of policy work would be considering the impact of changes to international tax policy, or the development of new local taxes such as GST as directed by the States.

"I reviewed the role recently, as part of considering wider improvement plans already in progress for the service, and it was clear to me that splitting its operational and policy responsibilities was necessary. We are committed to improving the service islanders receive and allowing the Director of the Revenue Service to focus solely on the operational performance, without also being responsible for significant policy demands, will best support those aims."

Pictured: The job advert has been posted on gov.gg HERE. 

Guernsey's Revenue Service has struggled to keep on top of its workload in recent years with a backlog in income tax assessments causing problems for more than a decade.

The most recent data available shows that 10% of individual returns from 2020 are still waiting to be assessed, along with 24% of returns from 2021 and nearly half of returns for 2022.

With the introduction of a Goods and Services Tax approved by the States of Guernsey last year, the work for doing that will fall to the Revenue Service, and the new Director of the Revenue Service will have responsibility for that.

They will also be responsible for managing the secondary pensions scheme and the collection of other contributions.

Pictured: The job advert has been posted on gov.gg

The successful applicant will need to have "extensive experience and a proven track record of leadership in a large public sector organisation" or "a strong track record of leadership and management in a large organisation and demonstrable capability to lead and manage the Revenue Service team".

They will also need to have "substantial practical experience in Guernsey taxation and the Guernsey system of contributions OR a demonstrable ability to quickly develop a comprehensive understanding of the same".

If the successful applicant comes from outside Guernsey they will be able to apply for a relocation package to pay for themselves and their family to move to the island. 

That is on top of the position's advertised salary which is between £130,485 and £147,039 per annum. 

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