Guernsey's Income Tax backlog 'due to staff issues'
Staff problems at Guernsey's Income Tax office are the reason for a backlog of up to seven months, say officials.
Alastair Ford from the Treasury and Resources Department admitted the office had to train new staff following a number of retirements, resignations and transfers.
He said that "has been affecting capacity in the short-term".
"The office is also having to play catch-up as it deals with a surge of tax returns," he said.
"Staff issues have been one of the major factors that have been affecting workloads," said Mr Ford.
The Tax Office is working on a number of initiatives to improve the system.
- The introduction, in 2015, of automated reporting by banks to Income Tax of the interest received (on savings) and paid (mortgage interest) by Guernsey residents.
- Ongoing refinements to the automatic processing of personal tax returns filed online, which enables returns to be processed with minimal staff intervention.
- Improved data inputting of information.