Dog Tax is payable annually at a rate of £10.00 per dog and is renewable each January.
Dog Tax can be paid:
Tax is due for all dogs over the age of 6 months – the only exceptions being in respect of a dog kept solely by a deaf or disabled person for their hearing or guidance (e.g. guide dogs for the blind or hearing dogs for the deaf).
Licences are issued by the Constables of the particular parish in which the applicant has his/her ordinary residence.
Licences are not transferable, even if the dog is given or sold to another person. Should an owner move parish during the year, a new tax is not required, but it would help parish offices if owners would kindly notify them of any move, so that time is not wasted the following January reminding owners that the tax is due for renewal. Such owners should register the following year in their new parish of residence.
It is not the dog that is taxed, rather the owner who pays the tax to keep a dog.
Income generated from the collection of Dog Tax is credited to the parish’s Public Improvement Account which is used to fund items of general improvement for the parish at the discretion of the Douzaine.
Dog owners failing to pay the tax could render themselves liable, upon conviction, to a fine not exceeding £500 in accordance with the Dog Licences (Guernsey) Law, 1969 (as amended).