Guernsey’s tax authorities have the tax filing process back under control after coming under criticism for chronic delays, a senior manager says.

Scott Bloomfield, head of service delivery, said the introduction of automated processing would speed up the administration of both paper and online returns.

This comes against the backdrop of a backlog of rebate applications from 2019, of which 5% from this year are still open.

Mr Bloomfield told BBC Guernsey he understood people’s “frustration” and assured that staff would prioritise the oldest claims and the service had hired more staff for this purpose.

He said: “The tax filing processes are being refined to allow for faster processing times and to enable more tax returns to be cleared automatically.”

“I can assure our customers that the team is working really hard to process these assessments and respond to inquiries.”

It comes after Islanders complained delayed payouts and poor communication from the service, resulting in an estimated compensation payment of £1.1 million.

Mr Bloomfield blamed the long-term impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and staffing issues for the backlog, but stressed that the problems affected only a minority of applications.

He said: “This only affects some customers. I understand their concerns, but I assure them that the backlog is narrowing.”

He added that the service will “try to work more proactively with customers” in the future.

He said: “I see that the new systems and processes will make our department more efficient.”

He added fall–in meetings Consultations are being held and he is confident that the department will be able to “reduce the backlog by the end of the year.”

“We are confident that we are on the right track with this new system and I will work to make the service even better,” he said.