The Guernsey Press has been contacted by a number of exasperated readers, some owed thousands of pounds, who said that despite being told by the Tax Office that they were due a rebate, were yet to receive a penny.
Many said they had contacted the newspaper after becoming frustrated with a lack of response from the Tax Office.
One person, who asked to remain anonymous, said they had said he and his wife were still waiting for a cheque a year after they were told they were owed over £2,000.
‘We received six different returns over a period of one month last spring,’ he said. ‘These dated back all the way to 2019. In some we owed money, but in others we’d overpaid.
‘We had 30 days to pay, with threats of fines if we didn’t, but the letters contained no information on when we should expect the money they owed us.’
After not hearing anything since the original letter, the reader went to the tax counter at Edward T Wheadon House and was told his repayment had been delayed as the Tax Office needed to calculate how much they owed him in interest and late payment fines.
When the Revenue Service issues a repayment more than one year after the end of the month in which a fully completed return was received, a 5% increase in the amount repaid, referred to as a supplement, should be applied automatically.
However the Tax Office said repayment supplements must be assessed on a case‑by‑case basis, as calculations depended on individual taxpayer circumstances, submission dates, amendments, and statutory requirements, even though the assessments themselves do not need recalculation.
‘They told me I’d “hopefully” get a refund “this year”,’ he said. ‘Bear in mind I have had no correspondence confirming this.
‘It doesn’t say this in the original tax return and the Tax Office haven’t replied to any of my emails. In the Tax Office they basically told me not to bother emailing as no one reads them.’
‘All that time they are not paying me, it is costing the taxpayer more in interest. Why not pay the headline amount immediately, and then work out the late payment afterwards?’
‘It’s £2,000 I could really do with. Storm Goretti ripped a sizeable hole in my roof and obviously I’ve had to pay for repairs. Imagine if I ignored the roofer’s invoice for 12 months and then said I’ll pay you sometime this year? I’d end up in Petty Debts and deservedly so.’
Another reader said they were told in September last year that they were due a rebate of about £1,800, but had heard nothing since.
‘My wife received notification on the same day that she was due nearly £150. She has since received her payment, but I’m still waiting for mine some seven months later,’ he said. ‘I’ve had notification about rebates before that have been paid inside of two months. I suspect that if I owed the States £1,800 they would act a lot more quickly to get the money from me.’
Scott Bloomfield, head of service delivery, said the Revenue Service was carrying out a detailed assessment of its current operational situation so that a recovery plan can be put in place to bring the service back to where it needs to be.
‘The recovery plan will focus on prioritising essential work, including processing repayments, progressing older cases, and working through the outstanding assessments from previous years,’ he said.
‘But we want to ensure that this is a comprehensive recovery, rather than just a short-term fix. While we seek to fully understand the current situation, the issuing of repayments and the clearance of outstanding prior‑year assessments is continuing and remains a priority.’
He added that they understood the frustration caused by delays.
‘Once we know exactly where we stand, we will update the Revenue Service website with rolling statistics for transparency.
‘Alongside this work, new system functionality will be introduced which will allow for the automated creation of tax repayments, and this is expected to significantly speed up the repayment process once implemented.’