Thousands wait for income tax repayments

Chris and Martine Dean had hoped the rebate they were owed could be used for their holiday

There are more than 6,000 people waiting for repayments from Guernsey's Revenue Service, it has estimated.

That figure has been revised down from July, when the service said there were more than 11,000 people who were owed money.

A spokesperson for the Revenue Service has apologised for the time taken to issue repayments.

Chris Dean has been waiting for a rebate and said: "It is just really annoying because it is our money. If we owed the money, they'd be sending us reminders."

States of Guernsey chief executive Boley Smillie said he would be judged on his attempts to improve the revenue service

In the last month 458 people have been issued rebates, compared with 138 in the first half of 2025.

Guernsey's top civil servant Boley Smillie has said he would make fixing the issues at the revenue service his top priority.

Martine Dean said she received details of a rebate in January this year: "It was quite nice, because we were going on holiday and I thought that would be good, that it would help towards the holiday and we are still waiting for it."

Mick Prigent said he was "angry" with the lack of communication he received from the revenue service

In St Peter Port she was not alone in her frustration about the time taken by the revenue service to provide rebates.

Mick Prigent said the revenue service was "three years behind" for him.

"I am not happy about it. It's a waste of time trying to get in touch with them. Makes me angry, as if they wanted money they would take it off me."

However, some people in town had a good experience with the Revenue Service, including Clive McMinn, who said: "I am up to date, and it is brilliant."

New system

Tackling delays in the Revenue Service has been identified as a priority by incoming States members, including Marc Lainé who questioned why the States were not paying interest on rebates owed from years ago.

The Revenue Service said: "We have now issued almost 600 repayments this year.

"While we are pleased, we recognise that there are many more who are waiting to receive a repayment."

The delays have partly been blamed on the service moving to a new system: "As we become more familiar with the process for issuing repayments in the new system, we are pleased that the speed of issuing these is accelerating.

"We originally stated that there were 11,196 assessments issued that advised a repayment was due.

"However, having now identified those customers with other assessments which offset some of those repayments, there are currently 6,317 repayments awaiting processing."