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14,000 tax returns notices are still outstanding - and it could take up to February next year for the extreme backlog to be cleared, the Comptroller of Taxes has revealed.
Richard Summersgill said the outstanding forms - representing 23% of the total number - had piled up amid what he described as a "rocky ride" for the department.
Speaking to the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel, the Comptroller blamed the "slow running" on a number of factors, including an “unplanned” office move to La Motte Street, recruitment difficulties and a change in processing system.
Pictured: The Taxes Office moved to Philip Le Feuvre house early this year.
“We had planned downtime because of our transition to the new system,” Mr Summersgill told the Panel. “There have been some glitches that have taken longer to fix than I would have wished.”
The Comptroller admitted the computer systems should have been refreshed 20 or 10 years ago, adding his predecessors had “put it off”. The antiquated system has therefore caused a few issues during the move to a more modern one, he said.
“Any new system, particularly when it’s being introduced after 35 years, will have a few issues,” Mr Summersgill explained.
“The big issue for us has been the data migration. The sad reality is that the old tax system had a lot of poor data in it and when we have moved into the new system, the new system is spotting it and churning it out, which is adding to the slow running."
Pictured: The Comptroller of Taxes, Richard Summersgill.
He continued: “The other issue is because the old system was pretty much a glorified calculator, it did not held that much data. Most of the data was actually held in our voluminous paper files.
"So, this year, one of the things that is slowing us down is that every time one of my officers is processing a tax return they are having to get the paper file and take data out and input it in the new system still as a manual process.
“It’s really been quite an extraordinary endeavour.”
Pictured: The move to a more modern tax system has encountered a few "glitches".
Describing a “rocky ride” for the Taxes Office, Mr Summersgill not only thanked islanders for “bearing” with them, but also employees. He said: “I am really indebted to them for sticking with it.”
However, the Comptroller reassured the panel that the new systems are now “basically sound” and providing his department with “the capabilities that we need to run a modern taxes system going forward."
A number of checks still need to be carried out, but Mr Summersgill said online filing should become available at the end of January. The Treasury Minister, Susie Pinel, reminded the panel that online filing will not be compulsory and that a paper version will still be available.
Pictured: Online filing should be available by the end of January.
Last week, the Taxes Office issued a notice to employers regarding the ITIS Effective Rates for 2020.
With some employees still awaiting theirs, HR services were advising them they would be put onto the default rate of 22% if they failed to produce their update rates.
Revenue Jersey, however, took the decision to suspend the requirement for employers to apply the default effective rate and asked employers to continue using the current effective rate until a new one is being sent.
"We are issuing this direction as there is some risk, as a result of our delays, that an employee may not have received their rate in time for the January payroll updates," the letter acknowledged.
"We wish to ensure that no one experiences a budgeting crisis as a result of these delays."
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