Paper forms held back to encourage online tax returns
ONLINE tax returns for 2024 have gone live, but paper forms will not be available for at least another two months in a bid to encourage islanders to use the internet instead.
Local musician Art Allen contacted the Guernsey Press after going in to Edward T Wheadon House to collect a paper tax form for 2024.
He was told that paper forms would not be available until an unknown date in May.
‘It’s totally unfair, it is what I call bureaucratic bias,’ he said.
‘I want to fill in my tax form and they are saying “no thanks”. I’m choosing not to complete mine online, which is my right, they are favouring those online over paper, which discriminates against those who don’t want to or can’t.’
Scott Bloomfield, the Revenue Service’s head of service delivery, said that like last year, paper tax return forms were due to be made available at a slightly later date in May to encourage people to complete their return online.
‘Completing a return online removes the need for Revenue Service staff to manually input lengthy paper forms, saving time and enabling them to focus on processing more complex returns,’ he said.
‘Completing online is also better for customers as they don’t have to pick up or drop off a paper form and they can use an online form which is pre-populated and easily tailored to people’s circumstances.’
He added that when the paper forms were made available, people would be able to collect these at Edward T Wheadon House, some parish offices and the Citizens Advice Bureau, and this would still allow plenty of time ahead of the 2024 tax return deadline of 30 November 2025.
‘When people collect these forms at Wheadon House, we ensure that they need to complete a return,’ he said.
‘Then we can also use this as an opportunity to understand why people aren’t choosing to use the online form so that we can offer the necessary support.
'When we approached the 2023 tax return deadline last month, we adapted how we provided paper tax forms to meet the acute need at the time, but these checks ordinarily provide a useful opportunity to save time and resources by promoting online submissions.’
About 7,000 of the 2023 tax returns are still outstanding, however Mr Bloomfield was pleased that 78% of people in Guernsey had submitted their 2023 tax return online, ‘saving time and resources for our teams, meaning that we can focus on completing and issuing assessments’.
A tax return can be completed at my.gov.gg. Anyone who does not have an account can create one at my.gov.gg/registration. Drop-ins will be held to help people complete their returns.
