Deputy Marc Laine has asked for new commitments to issue a tax assessment within six months of receiving a return, and to pay compensation if a repayment takes longer than three months.
He wants Policy & Resources and States chief executive Boley Smillie to back the tougher standards which he believes would help restore public confidence in the beleaguered service by the end of the political term.
‘Issuing assessments within six months is standard practice in many advanced jurisdictions,’ said Deputy Laine.
‘It is not an unrealistic goal, but it requires a shift in mindset and expectations. It would also have a direct positive impact on cash coming into the States.’
At present, the Revenue Service pays supplements on repayments not issued within one year, but Deputy Laine wants that period reduced, with an automatic £50 compensation fee payable after three months and possibly interest accruing from that point.
‘This would bring accountability, fairness and reciprocity into the system, adopting the same principles we apply when the States demands timely payment from islanders,’ he said.
‘With the right systems in place, there should be no cost and an incentive to get it right.’
Deputy Laine accepts that the tougher standards could not be introduced speedily given the scale of the backlog facing the Revenue Service. He wants them adopted as part of Mr Smillie’s recent guarantee to prioritise turning around the service as soon as possible.
‘In the UK, statutory interest is paid on late tax refunds. In New Zealand, taxpayers are compensated if refunds are delayed beyond standard timeframes. In parts of Canada and Scandinavia, tax authorities aim to issue refunds within 21-60 days, with compensation if deadlines are missed,’ he said.
‘Why should Guernsey settle for less?’
He said he did not want his proposal to come across as criticism of staff at the Revenue Service and recognised they were working hard under pressure and with IT systems which remain ineffective, despite recent expensive changes.
In recent days, Mr Smillie has described the Revenue Service as an example of how not to manage change in the public sector, but pledged to turn it into a model of excellence in the future.
P&R president Deputy Lindsay de Sausmarez said she was encouraged by progress now being made at the service but urged caution about expectations and criticised previous assurances of rapid improvement as overly optimistic.
‘Despite years of so-called transformation, we still have a system which issues tax bills years late, often calculates them incorrectly and applies aggressive payment terms to the public, while taking six months or more to return overpaid funds to taxpayers,’ said Deputy Laine.
‘We can’t simply say we’ll fix it over the next few years.
‘To rebuild trust, we need clear standards, accountability and, most importantly, much greater ambition.’
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