Instructor Paul Robinson, who needs a medical certificate to be able to operate his business within Jersey Coastguard rules, sent off the report from his GP to the Royal Yachting Association for validation.

But the 13-page document, which was sent in an A4 envelope, was held at Customs on its return.

He then had to pay 10p of GST in order to release it.

The timing coincided with the ‘de minimis’ threshold at which islanders pay GST on imported products dropping from £135 to £60, adding to Paul’s confusion.

He said that his first thought was: “What exactly is the policy?”

“I thought GST applied to imported goods over £60. This was clearly marked as having a nominal value of £1. It was just a medical report – not even ‘goods’ – with no monetary value other than for my ability to earn a living,” the skipper explained.

When Express reached out to Customs for an explanation of the 10p hold-up, officials confirmed that documents are not subject to GST and suggested that the declaration form had been completed incorrectly.

However, Paul said he couldn’t understand why the system would allow such an error to arise.

“It gave me no option to do anything else. I even tried putting a nil value, but the system told me it had to match the value given by the sender. I’d have thought (as you do) that the system wouldn’t allow payment on goods below £60. It wouldn’t let me do anything other than I did.

“The stated value given by the sender was £1, so I added another £1 for postage. It then asked me to pay 10p. I had no other choice, so I can’t see where the ‘user error’ applies.”

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Pictured: Paul Robinson had to pay 10p of GST in order to release documents required for his boating licence which had been sent from the UK.

Express has since asked the Government if it will be looking at adjustments to the GST portal to stop such errors arising again.

For anyone making GST declarations, Jersey Customs and Immigration Service gave this comprehensive advice: “A declaration is required for all goods arriving into Jersey and if applicable taxes will be charged accordingly. As the responsibility for declaring goods lies with the importer, if islanders are required to make a declaration, they are advised to check that they declare the description and the value of any goods correctly and not to rely on the shippers’ data.

“Islanders are also advised to take care to select the correct option to fill in a declaration as a private individual or a business. Owing to the cost of administration of collecting small amounts of taxes, JCIS will not collect tax on goods with a value of under £60 which are imported by private individuals (or where GST has been collected at source from a registered offshore supplier).

“The waiver for shipments under £60 is not in place for businesses, who must pay GST on all goods. Businesses can account for GST if they are registered with Revenue Jersey or pay as a cumulative amount to JCIS in arrears, to avoid paying isolated smaller amounts of liability.

“Shipments where GST has been collected at point of sale (registered offshore retailers) should not be detained by Customs provided the shippers’ data has been entered correctly. If islanders believe their shipment has been detained in error they can go online at gov.je and select on their declaration that they have already paid GST at point of sale.

“Islanders who have any questions on how to make a declaration are encouraged to contact JCIS who will be happy to help. Anyone who believes they have been charged GST incorrectly should contact JCIS who can either assist or provide advice on why GST has been automatically charged.”

Anyone who needs help can contact JCIS by phone on 01534 448000 or by emailing rgc@gov.je.