‘We are not trying to force people to do returns online’
THE under-fire Revenue Service has outlined why it has been more complicated to collect a paper income tax form this year.
Stretched, and facing a backlog of assessments going back years, the service is wanting to switch more islanders to file returns electronically.
But the way it has gone about it has angered many islanders, particularly older people.
In the past the 12-page forms were available from a dispenser at the front of the tax office, but now islanders are saying they have to queue for a copy that has tripled in size.
An 83-year-old pensioner who contacted the Guernsey Press said he was shocked when presented with the 39-page form for him and his 82-year-old wife to complete.
‘I thought I’d been given a book,’ he said. ‘I said: “I don’t need all that, just a form for me and one for my wife”.’
He thought other pensioners would also struggle with the amount of questions they have to answer.
‘It says you have to tick every single box and go through ever single section,’ he said.
The man said that he did not have internet access and was not familiar with computers.
‘If I want to send a message, I still send a pigeon up,’ he joked.
Another reader said that after queuing up at Edward T Wheadon House, staff had refused to give him a second form for a friend.
‘This is the state bullying elderly people to go online,’ he said. ‘This is totally unfair treatment.’
‘The old form was only 12 pages long, now its 39? What has changed to have that many questions?’
Another said that staff on the counter at the Revenue Service deserved a pay rise, having to facing an angry public to explain the reasons for the States’ latest ‘debacle’.
Nicky Forshaw, director of the Revenue Service, said she understood the reactions and frustrations that some people were experiencing.
The service is now opening up to help more islanders to file paper forms, or online through a series of drop-in days, and is planning to go on the road to set up across the parishes to offer help.
‘We recognise that not all of our customers that need a paper tax return can get to Edward T Wheadon House in person,’ she said.
People would not be ‘forced’ online against their wishes, she added.
Both sessions would offer help with paper or online returns.
She said that the 2023 paper return was much longer than previously as it had been designed to mirror the order of questions in the online return, which means it can be scanned rather than keyed in by staff.
The requirement for people to check in at the counter to receive the form would allow staff to check if a form needed to be completed, and that the person’s details on file were up to date.
‘Customers will be aware that we have a backlog and these changes are designed to enable greater efficiencies in our processes, and to help our team assess tax returns quicker.’
n Drop-in sessions at Edward T Wheadon House will run all day on Monday, and then are planned monthly with the next being on Monday 10 June.
