Unapplied tax payments (FOI)

​Request

It has come to my notice that some payments against individuals' income tax have not been allocated for some years against income tax. There are referred to by the tax system as "Unapplied Payments".

How many payments remain outstanding an unallocated against tax for a period in excess of one year?

What is the total value of those payments?

Can the tax system readily identify and flag up unallocated payments?

Response

For the purpose of this response an “unapplied payment” is deemed to be a payment received into Revenue Jersey that cannot be applied immediately to the entity (individual, corporate, employer) for which it was intended. This will usually be because the information provided with the payment is either inaccurate or incomplete.

Due to the nature of “unapplied payments” it is not always possible to determine if they are intended for an individual, corporate or employer.

The combined information (as at the end of February 2020) is as follows:

Number of payments unapplied for an excess of one year: 59

Value of those payments: £67k

Since April 2019, all payments (excluding direct debits) are processed via the Government’s Income Collection and Reconciliation (ICAR) system before applied transactions are passed into the tax system. This ICAR system readily identifies any unallocated tax payments.