Jersey is a Crown Dependency with its own tax law. Not the UK with different stationery. The standard rate is 20% with marginal relief at lower incomes, employment tax comes out through ITIS at a rate calculated for you personally, and there is no VAT, no capital gains tax and no inheritance tax. Which is why a UK adviser or UK software will confidently produce the wrong answer, and why the return is harder than the form makes it look.
Which return do you actually need?
Start here, because half the people who ask us for help with a tax return are unsure how many returns they are supposed to be filing. Find the row that matches your year.
| Your situation | What normally has to be filed | Where we fit |
|---|---|---|
| Employed only, no other income | Usually a personal return, with tax already collected through ITIS during the year. | We check the figures and file it. |
| Employed plus rental income | Personal return covering both. Rental profit is worked out separately and added. | We prepare the rental figures and the return. |
| Sole trader | Personal return including your trading profit, based on your bookkeeping for the year. | We do the books and the return together. |
| Company director | A company return for the company, and a personal return for your own income from it. | We handle both; the company accounts side may need an accountant. |
| Moved to or from Jersey mid-year | Part-year and residency treatment applies, which changes what is taxable here. | Bookkeeping from us, the residency position from a qualified adviser. |
| Trusts, offshore structures, complex investments | Outside routine return preparation. | Referred to a qualified Jersey tax adviser. We provide the records. |
If your row lands in the bottom two, that is a genuine answer rather than a brush-off. Records and figures we can do well. Residency, structures and formal opinions belong with someone qualified to sign them.
What we do
- Figures assembled from source. Your income for the year built up from actual records, not last year's numbers with a percentage added.
- Personal return prepared. Employment, self-employment, rental and investment income brought together on one return.
- Company return prepared. Where you run a Jersey company, the corporate return handled alongside your personal one.
- ITIS effective rate checked. We look at whether the rate you are on still matches your circumstances, and flag it when it does not.
- Reviewed with you before filing. You read the return and approve it. The declaration is yours, so nothing goes in unseen.
- Filed and confirmed. Submitted through the Revenue Jersey portal, with the confirmation kept on file for you.
- Deadline tracking. We diarise your filing dates so the reminder comes from us rather than from Revenue Jersey.
How it works
Four stages, and you are only actively involved in two of them.
| Stage | What happens | What we need from you |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Scope | We look at last year's return, your records and what has changed, then quote a fixed fee. | Last return and ITIS notice, if you have them. |
| 2. Build | Income assembled from source records. Gaps and inconsistencies queried with you. | Answers to a short list of questions. |
| 3. Review | Draft return sent to you with the figures explained in plain terms. | Read it, ask, approve. |
| 4. File | Submitted to Revenue Jersey, confirmation saved, next year's deadline diarised. | Nothing. |
Signs it is time to hand this over
- You have income from more than one source and you are guessing which box it goes in.
- You started renting a property out and have not worked out the taxable profit properly.
- You went self-employed and the trading figures do not exist in any usable form yet.
- Your ITIS effective rate has not been looked at since your circumstances changed.
- You filed late once and would rather not repeat it.
- You became a company director and now have two returns instead of one.
Where bookkeeping ends
Worth being direct about this. Bookkeeper.je is a bookkeeping practice. We are good at records, at building accurate figures from them, and at getting a routine return prepared and filed on time. We are not a regulated tax advisory or accountancy firm, and we do not pretend otherwise.
Anything involving residency status, offshore structures, trusts, company restructuring, or a formal written opinion someone else will rely on, goes to a qualified Jersey accountant or tax adviser. We are happy to prepare the underlying records for them, which usually makes their work cheaper. If you want to understand the system yourself first, our guide to Jersey income tax covers the mechanics, and there is more detail in how Jersey self-assessment works.
General guidance only. Rates, allowances and deadlines are set each year by the States of Jersey and Revenue Jersey — confirm current figures at gov.je before acting on anything here.
Get a price before you commit
Tell us what your year looked like: employed, self-employed, renting something out, running a company, or some combination. Send last year's return if you can find it. We will come back with a fixed fee and a list of what we need, and you can decide from there.
Request a quote for your tax return — one business day for a reply, and no charge for the conversation.
Common questions
Can someone else file my Jersey personal tax return for me?
Yes. You can authorise an agent to prepare and submit it. We assemble the figures, complete the return, send it to you to check, and file once you approve. The declaration remains yours, which is why nothing goes in unread.
How is Jersey income tax different from the UK?
Jersey is a Crown Dependency with its own tax law. Standard rate 20% with marginal relief, employment tax through ITIS rather than PAYE codes, and no VAT, capital gains tax or inheritance tax. UK software and UK advisers get this wrong routinely.
What do you need from me to prepare the return?
Bookkeeping records or bank statements for the year, employment figures, details of any rental or investment income, and last year's return and ITIS notice if you have them. If something is missing we tell you before quoting, not halfway through.
Do you give tax advice as well as filing?
We explain your figures, your ITIS rate and your deadlines. We are a bookkeeping practice, not a regulated tax advisory firm, so structuring, residency, trusts and formal opinions go to a qualified Jersey tax adviser.
Who we work with
Individuals and businesses across all twelve Jersey parishes: St. Helier, St. Saviour, St. Clement, Grouville, St. Martin, Trinity, St. John, St. Mary, St. Ouen, St. Peter, St. Brelade and St. Lawrence. Everything runs by email and secure file transfer, so you never have to take a morning off to drop paperwork somewhere.