THE owner of a town fish and chip shop could face up to 24 weeks in prison if she does not pay a £4,000 fine and settle an outstanding tax bill of over £8,000.
Erlinda Carter, of Erlinda’s Fish & Chips in St Helier, pleaded guilty to persistently failing to file monthly employer returns for her business and employees.
The offences took place between 1 January 2022 and 1 April 2023, the Magistrate’s Court heard.
Earlier this year, Carter also appeared in front of the Employment and Discrimination Tribunal.
She was ordered to pay over £7,000 to a former employee for unpaid wages and unpaid holiday pay.
This week, Carter was ordered by the court to pay a fine of £4,000 and to settle her outstanding ITIS bill exceeding £8,000 – or face up to 24 weeks in prison.
Commenting following the sentencing, Assistant Comptroller of Revenue, Amanda Sloan, said: “While taxpayers failing to file a return for any tax type concerns Revenue Jersey, the Combined Employer Return particularly concerns us due to the unfair impact on employees: Non-filing means we do not know what tax the employer has already deducted from employees’ salaries, and can’t know whether the employer has been paying the correct, or any amount over to us.
“Non-filing can lead to very serious situations where employees, for instance needing sickness benefit, find themselves ineligible as their deducted contributions have not been paid over by their employer resulting in large gaps on their employees’ records.
“It can also cause employees’ ITIS rates to rise sharply: ITIS deducted from their salaries if not declared on a return, is sometimes not paid to Revenue Jersey when it should be, leaving their tax bill unpaid.”
The government added that Carter’s case served as a reminder of the importance of adhering to tax regulations and working in cooperation with Revenue Jersey to maintain a fair and effective tax system.
