Thousands of 2020 tax returns still not processed

The Revenue Service said an increase in online tax returns had eased pressure on it

Thousands of Guernsey taxpayers are still waiting for their 2020 tax returns to be processed, according to new figures from the States.

The latest numbers show that 15% of personal tax returns from the year remain unprocessed, with more than half of 2022 returns still outstanding.

The figures mean that more than 4,000 tax returns from 2020 are yet to be processed and more than 16,000 returns from 2022.

Nicky Forshaw, director of the Revenue Service, said progress was "being made constantly" to reduce the backlog and the service had introduced a number of changes to help customers.

She said the changes included "drop-in sessions for people who would like help filing their tax return" as well as improvements to the paper tax form to make it quicker to process.

Mrs Forshaw said more information about how the service was reducing the backlog and regularly updated statistics could be found on its website.

The service said it was making progress reducing the backlog, with 6% of the 2020 returns processed since March.

It has nearly completed company tax returns from 2020 with 94% processed.

Guernsey's Revenue Service said a higher number of people filing online tax returns and a new rule meaning married couples must file separate tax returns had eased pressure on the service and had helped them reduce the backlog.