PETTY Debts Court judgements for non-payment of income tax have soared this year.

But director of income tax Rob Gray said that his staff were willing to discuss payment terms for outstanding bills.

The economic downturn has played a part, as has an increase from £2,500 to £10,000 in the upper limit for petty debts claims.

But the number of cases where court proceedings were considered as a result of non-payment was down.

So far this year there have been 44 judgements awarded in the Petty Debts Court, compared to 23 last year. There have been 28 judgements in the Royal Court, compared to 33 in 2008.

‘Our collection section is doing its job no differently to the way that it always has, collecting tax as efficiently and quickly as possible,’ said Mr Gray (pictured).

‘I’ve no doubt that some people are struggling to pay tax bills due to the economic crisis, but we are not unsympathetic to real cases of hardship.’

Income Tax can collect up to £1,000, recently increased from £500, in tax arrears from people’s wages by adjusting the individual’s tax coding.

With their consent, more tax can be paid this way.