And now it has been revealed that people who persistently delay giving in their return could face much tougher penalties in the future.
The Taxes Office is also looking at introducing a system that would allow it to send an alert to taxpayers by text or email shortly before the deadline if their return was still outstanding to help them avoid a fine.
Richard Summersgill, the Comptroller of Taxes, said that his staff faced the same problem every year.
‘We always have a significant minority of people who miss the filing deadline, and usually see most of those returns come in over the following few weeks,’ he said.
‘Unfortunately there are a number of taxpayers who actively delay submitting their return for months, sometimes years, and in some cases may do so deliberately to delay the issue of an assessment and consequently payment of their tax liability.
‘It is in everyone’s interests for taxpayers to file on time. We will shortly be asking ministers and the States Assembly to approve a number of measures to encourage prompt filing and so reduce the number of late filers – and late payers – in future years.’
Mr Summersgill added that the Taxes Office was also keen to help Islanders remember to file their tax returns rather than penalising those who do so after the deadline.
He said that they were due to introduce a new revenue management system in 2020 that is designed to help them communicate with taxpayers more efficiently.
‘It will specifically remind those who have not filed ahead of the deadline by email or SMS where possible,’ he said. ‘Along with continuing extensive public communications on the filing deadline and an expanded range of help, information and online videos, there will be few reasons for taxpayers not to meet their filing
obligations.
‘For the remaining small number of extremely late and persistent later filers, part of forthcoming law reform proposals will look to move away from only having a one-off penalty for late filing, to a regime which takes account of the length of time a return has been outstanding. Those who continue to delay filing would receive additional penalties.’
