JERSEY’S unpaid tax bill has surged to £21 million – almost double the amount outstanding two years earlier – with the government warning that legal action will be taken against those who fail to pay.
New figures show that outstanding personal income tax for the 2024 year of assessment stood at £21 million as of early July this year, compared with £13m for 2023 and £11m for 2022.
The £21m represents around 3% of the £691m in personal income tax assessed for 2024, up from 2% in each of the previous two years.
The data also reveals increases in the total of other unpaid taxes.
Outstanding GST debt has climbed steadily, rising from £3m for the 2023 assessment year to £6m for 2025 – equivalent to 5% of GST collected for that year.
Corporate income tax debt has also doubled, from £2m in 2022 to £4m in 2024. However, the proportion of the overall corporate tax liability represented by the debt has remained at 2%.
Meanwhile, outstanding payments through the Income Tax Instalment System – through which employers deduct tax from salaries – have risen from £3m for 2023 to £7m for 2025.
Payment plans or legal action
The figures were released following a request under the Freedom of Information Law.
In its response, the government said that the debts represent money currently recorded on Revenue Jersey’s system which is “to be pursued”.
Once a tax liability has been assessed, it is passed to the Treasury Department’s debt team.
“If payment is not forthcoming on the due date, the debt team will arrange payment plans or if necessary, take legal action to recover the debt,” the government said.
However, the figures do not necessarily mean that £21m of personal tax has simply gone unpaid since 2024.
The government explained that the totals can include debts arising from assessments and reassessments carried out later, meaning “the age of the debt may be significantly less than the age suggested by the year of assessment”.
They also include late-filing fees, late-payment penalties and surcharges, while additional sums identified through Revenue Jersey’s compliance and audit work are included too.
Millions may never be recovered
Not all of the outstanding money is expected to make its way into the public purse.
The response noted that more than £3.7m “relates to debts of companies currently en désastre” – formally declared bankrupt or insolvent by Jersey’s Royal Court – or “otherwise being wound up”.
For employed Islanders with historic personal tax debts, meanwhile, Revenue Jersey can increase the effective ITIS rate dedicated from wages to recover previously unpaid sums.
“Around 21% of the 2022 and 2023 debt, and 40% of the 2024 debt, is being paid by ITIS,” the response said.
The government can also take action against businesses that fall behind on GST.
Those failing to keep up with payments also run the risk of being stripped of “approved trader status” – which allows businesses to receive fast-track clearance for imported goods – “until the position is rectified”.
Meanwhile, people with previous GST liabilities may be required to provide additional money as security when setting up a new business.
Tax compliance measures ‘will bring in £31.5m a year’
It comes as Revenue Jersey has been stepping up its efforts to claw back unpaid tax, with the 2026-2029 Budget approved last autumn projecting increased collections through “audit, enforcement and other compliance work”.
The department said it expected that this work would bring in an additional £126 million over four years – £31.5 million per year from 2026 to 2029.
Revenue Jersey has also set out where some of that increased compliance effort is being focused this year.
Its three-pronged programme – ‘Promote, Prevent, Respond’ – includes new reviews of restaurants “where cash is prevalent” and the beauty industry, including hairdressers and nail technicians, alongside continued investigations into undeclared property income and the tax affairs of self-employed Islanders.
Officials also plan a mixture of “desk-based and site audits”, checks on employers who fail to register or file returns on time, and scrutiny of whether businesses are complying with GST, ITIS, Social Security and minimum-wage requirements.
Revenue Jersey says it also intends to prevent problems before they arise by improving guidance, encouraging more taxpayers to file online and even providing materials for Year 10 to 12 students explaining “how tax and social security work, why they are needed and how to manage their obligations”.
