For the first time, Islanders now have the option to file their personal income tax online instead of using the paper form.
Filing online aims to be more convenient, quicker and easier than using the paper form. For example, answers given will automatically eliminate subsequent sections of the form that do not apply to that individual, removing the need to work out which sections need completing.
Treasury Minister, Deputy Susie Pinel, said: “This is a significant move towards the Government modernising its services to be more accessible for Islanders. It is the first step in the journey towards a fully digital online service for personal income tax. However, completing your tax return online is an option and taxpayers can still complete a paper form if they prefer.”
Additional information is available alongside the online form that can be used as guidance to complete the form correctly.
The online form can be paused, saved and returned to later to complete. Once the form is submitted, instant confirmation of receipt by the department will be sent, removing the possibility of paper forms becoming misplaced.
Islanders are being sent their 2019 personal income tax return paper forms in the post and information on how to complete the form online has been included. The online deadline gives two extra months for completion. The online deadline is 31, July 2020 whereas, the paper deadline is 31, May 2020.
Deputy Pinel added “We recognise that while launching this service, we are still dealing with a significant backlog of 2018 tax return assessments, for which we continue to apologise. However, we believe that launching this service now is the right thing to do. In fact, it will benefit our teams, as any forms completed online will reduce inputting and assessment time by our staff to process the return, meaning they can get through 2019 returns far more quickly.”
A series of free drop-in workshops will be available for people to learn how to complete the online process.
Guidance on how to set up a onegov account and a digital ID, using YOTI, to fill out the online tax form, is available online.