Millions missing from tax returns dwarfs benefit fraud
More than £6m. of undeclared income and overstated expenses was uncovered by the Revenue Service in 2023.
The millions missing from income tax and social security returns dwarfed benefit fraud committed against the States which totalled in the low hundreds of thousands of pounds when calculated over the same period.
The sum of £6m. of undeclared income and overstated expenses excluded the most serious cases of suspected tax fraud, which were referred to the island’s Economic & Financial Crime Bureau.
The figures were drawn from 2023, the latest year that the service holds completed statistics for. Its investigations secured extra tax and contributions of between £1,000 and £400,000 in individual cases.
'In total, more than £6m. of undeclared income and overstated expenses was discovered, resulting in total additional tax, contributions, surcharges and penalties amounting to in excess of £2.4m.,' said a spokesman for the Revenue Service, which is overseen by the Policy & Resources Committee.
‘As well as the additional tax and contributions recovered as a result of investigations, this also ensures that the customer is then in a position of ongoing compliance for all future years, joining the majority of customers who voluntarily comply with their income tax and contributions obligations, for the benefit of our community.’
The figures were provided in response to Guernsey Press enquiries relating to how the States tracks down misleading claims about income, expenses and benefits.
The Employment & Social Security Committee, which no longer oversees the collection of contributions but remains responsible for the payment of benefits, supplied information about fraudulent benefit claims between January 2023 and June 2024.
‘In the 18-month period, a total of 271 allegations were investigated and 52 of those allegations were substantiated,’ said ESS president Deputy Peter Roffey.
‘The total amount of overpayments of benefit that were identified for recovery was £150,480 and the total combined weekly rate of the closed or adjusted benefit claims was £10,371.
‘This could have resulted in an ongoing loss of £539,306 in the following 12 months if no action had been taken.’
The Guernsey Press also asked questions of Policy & Resources and Employment & Social Security about the annual costs of investigating tax and benefit fraud and court actions arising from investigations.
