Isle of Man Government has announced that almost a quarter of all individual tax returns this year were submitted through the Government website – www.gov.im. This takes the total to 11,600 compared to 9,400 in 2012/13. 
 
Treasury Minister Eddie Teare MHK said: ‘I am really pleased that take up of the online tax service continues to grow each year. When people take the initial step of submitting their return online they continue to do so year on year, which suggests that they consider this method to be faster and easier than completing and submitting on paper.’
 
Registering for online tax services is easy and all you need is your tax reference number, which you can find on your payslip, tax return or by calling 685400. There is no need to wait for submission deadlines though because you can register for online tax services at any time of the year by logging on to www.gov.im/onlineservices.
 
To confirm your identity, a letter is sent to the address you register with an activation code.  This year, to speed up the registration process in the last 10 days, Income Tax provided activation codes to customers by telephone. This proved extremely popular with double the number of online service enrolments compared to the same period last year. Investigations are ongoing to further streamline the activation process to make it as easy and quick as possible.  
 
Minister for Policy and Reform Chris Robertshaw MHK said: ‘The online income tax service is just one of many online services available at gov.im. There is an ever growing range of services from paying rates, parking fines and invoices to searching the planning database and looking for a job. It takes less than a minute to register and is by far the easiest way to access Government services. This supports our ambition towards smaller, smarter government using technology to make us more efficient and provide excellent services for customers.’  
 
Minister Robertshaw added: ‘Gov.im continues to grow in importance for accessing Government services. For many people, using online services is simpler, faster, more convenient and more secure. There is no need to know which Department provides a service, prepare post, photocopy documents or queue at counters. Naturally when faced with a submission deadline, many of us often leave it the last minute to send the information. In this scenario, an online service is particularly helpful to ensure submissions are received on time.’
 
Minister Robertshaw continued: ‘In many cases, Government can also provide a much better experience online than we can through paper based services. A digital approach lets us explain things much more effectively, provide step by step assistance and of course we can prefill much of the information based on details that have already been provided. This is particularly useful for something like income tax, which can seem like a complicated process and require lots of the same information each year. It is also much easier for Government to process, which for income tax means you will receive assessments and notifications faster.’