Thousands face penalties after missing tax deadline
MORE than 5,000 personal tax returns for 2019 have not been submitted, despite islanders being given an extra four months to complete them.
The deadline was extended from the end of November until the end of March, due to the impact of Covid-19.
But a States spokesman said many were missing.
‘The Revenue Service is expecting a further 5,600 personal tax returns,’ he said.
The final weekend before deadline saw a flurry of activity, with more than 1,517 returns submitted between 27 and 31 March. But some islanders faced difficulty with getting their return in.
‘A technical issue with a server resulted in customers not being able to download personal tax forms,’ the spokesman confirmed.
‘The States’ IT partners worked throughout the weekend to resolve the issue and the service was fully restored by Sunday (28th) afternoon.’
Anyone who has not submitted a return by the deadline is facing an initial penalty of £200, with further daily penalties of £10, up to a maximum of £50.
If a return is received within 10 days of the initial penalty being imposed, no daily penalties will be charged, however if the form comes in on day 15, then the person will be charged a further £150. Penalties do not exceed £1,000.
Ordinarily 2020 tax forms would be available to fill in during January, but this has been put back due to the delay in getting in the 2019 returns.
No date has yet been given for when these will be available, although it is expected to be later this month.
