Online advice available during tax delays

21 October 2019

Revenue Jersey has issued online advice to help answer tax concerns and queries for those individual taxpayers experiencing delays in receiving their 2018 tax return notices.

Advice on the website explains that the majority of customers have similar circumstances year-on-year and in fact, their tax bill and ITIS rate remains consistent, and these people shouldn’t expect any surprises. Revenue Jersey asks that these customers please do not call to check progress or chase as this takes staff away from assessing and creates further delays.

It also clearly outlines the type of change of circumstance that might affect an individual’s ITIS rate and what support is available to them.

Richard Summersgill, Comptroller of Taxes, said: “I apologise for the disruption to service this year, the ongoing work to move from outdated software to a new Revenue Management System, staff recruitment challenges and an office move, has all contributed to a delay in the assessment of 2018 tax returns.

“This year we will take a flexible approach to late payment fines and we’re working to be able to spread underpayments arising from late assessments, over next year’s ITIS payments, to avoid unmanageable ITIS rate jumps.

“I am very sorry for the inconvenience and worry that this has caused some Islanders. I hope the advice and guidance to taxpayers we have published on a new government web page will help customers with certain queries.”

A new advice web page explains who could be affected by any delays:

Customers with certain changes of circumstance:

marriage / separation / bereavement
significant change of salary/earnings
changes to number of children
addition / cessation of ‘non-employment’ income
new mortgage / cessation of mortgage.

Some ITIS payers with slight changes to income:

a small amount of additional tax is owed that could have been covered by a rate change of 3-4% over 9 months, might now be creating a big rate jump as there are fewer months of the year to spread the tax payable over.

Revenue Jersey’s priority is to focus on those most in need of urgent help. Customers are being urged to visit the website first before contacting the personal tax team so that staff can continue working on processing tax returns.