Tuesday 08 January 2013
With immediate effect, paper tax returns are no longer being issued automatically to all taxpayers; instead a notice will be placed in "La Gazette Officielle" on 9 January, notifying every person of the need to submit a tax return (unless they have previously been advised by the Director, in writing, that they no longer need to complete a return and the conditions under which such previous notification was provided has continued to be satisfied throughout 2012). If a return was previously submitted online, an email notification will also be sent as a reminder of the requirement to submit a return.
2012 tax returns will be available with effect from Friday 11 January 2013 as follows:
· To complete a return online, please go to https://eforms.gov.gg. Returns submitted online will be treated as priority over paper returns submitted. Personal income tax returns submitted online will also be entered into a free draw (subject to terms and conditions) for a chance to win one of three cash prizes of £2,500, £1,500 or £1,000.
· To download a paper return, please go to www.gov.gg/forms and select the "Personal tax returns" link.
· Paper returns are available for collection from a number of points around the island, which include:
| Income Tax Office |
| Guernsey Information Centre |
| Guille-Alles Library |
| Aladdin's Cave |
| Alliance |
| Citizen's Advice Bureau |
| Castel Douzaine Room (open Mon-Fri 9:30-12:30) |
| Forest Post Office (Forest Stores) |
| St Martin's Constables Office (open Mon-Fri 10:00-12:00 and Fri 2:00-4:00) |
| St Peter's Post Office |
| St Sampson's Douzaine Room (open Mon-Fri 9:00-12:30) |
| St Saviour's Douzaine Room (open Tue 2:30-6:30 and Thu 9:00-11:00) |
| States Office, Alderney |
| The Administration Office, Herm |
· Please note that all companies are required to submit their 2012 returns online.
Rob Gray, Director of Income Tax, said:
"It was agreed by the States in May 2012 that online filing will be the default option for submission of personal income tax returns with effect from the calendar year 2012 return, which will be available for completion in January 2013. This decision was made primarily to cut down on the postage, scanning and other administration costs of issuing and receiving paper returns.
There are benefits for taxpayers, the Income Tax Office and the island generally, from more people using the on-line filing facility. For taxpayers, they will be able to file their returns quicker than sending them by post or hand delivering them to the Income Tax Office. Returns filed on-line will be assessed more quickly so that people will either receive any repayments that are due to them sooner than they would if sending in a paper turn or, if they owe additional tax, they will know this sooner rather than later so they can more easily plan their personal finances.
I will, therefore, no longer issue personal income tax returns to every taxpayer as a matter of course. The returns can be either completed online or downloaded from the Guernsey Income Tax website. It was recognised, however, that not everyone has access to a computer, so the States agreed that paper returns will be made available at various collection points throughout Guernsey, Alderney and Herm."
ENDS
Issued by: R Gray, Director of Income Tax, Income Tax Office
