Fix for tax backlog problems will cost about £150,000
ADDRESSING the problems that have plagued Guernsey's income tax office will cost around £150,000, the Treasury minister revealed yesterday.
In a statement to the Assembly, Gavin St Pier, pictured, announced that an improvement programme for the office had been agreed with a view to addressing both 'the symptoms and the root causes of the poor performance.'
As minister, he would provide strong political interest and leadership by acting as the programme sponsor, he added.
The Income Tax office has been struggling to cope with a backlog and when new penalties for filling income tax forms were brought in an extra 9,000 returns were received.
'The reality is that despite significant moves towards on-line filing and assessing – which is now used by 16,000 people – the Income Tax office is, in large part, working with outdated systems and processes,' Deputy St Pier said.
'These have been severely tested over the past two years which have seen increases in the numbers of tax returns waiting to be examined.'
He said the increase in returns coincided with some long-term sickness among experienced staff and also an 'unusually' high level of turnover of qualified staff – particularly in 2012 when the turnover rate was 19%, against a more normal 6 or 7% a year.
