Tax is demanded for income not yet earned
IT HAS been in my mind for some time to write to the Press to complain about the manner in which the Income Tax Authority demands payment on income not yet received. I had conversations with a member of staff last year about this and got nowhere.
Foolishly, I now believe, I have always filled out my tax form early in the year and once again in 2019 have received demands for payment, when the income has not yet been earned.
You may imagine my dismay on reading the letter in today’s Press [Monday 29 April] where someone states that they have not received a tax demand for three years. How unfair is that on those of us who try to do the right thing and how can that happen? I expect if I do not pay what has already been demanded this year on income as yet unearned, there will be some sort of unpleasant letter coming my way. Making a ‘guestimate’ of income is well out of order, particularly when I learn others take years to pay their dues.
I had already decided that no longer would I send in a tax return until late in the year, when clearly the treatment of my income would be more realistic. The letter writer’s experience has confirmed that from next year, 2020, the Income Tax Authority will have to wait for my annual return.
JENNY TASKER
12, Belmont Rise,
Les Croutes,
St Peter Port,
GY1 1PZ.