Over 700,000 people filed their tax return on deadline day

As many as 732,498 taxpayers filed their self-assessment tax return just in time by midnight on the 31^st of January.

Figures show that more than 11.5 million people filed their tax return on time for the 2023 to 2024 tax year and for those who left it until the last day, the most common time to do so was between 16:00 and 16:59.

Just over 30,000 left it right until the very last minute, filing between 23:00 and 23:59.

Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services, said, “Thank you to the millions of people and agents who filed their Self Assessment tax return and paid any tax owed by 31 January. I’m urging anyone who missed the deadline, to submit their return as soon as possible to avoid any further penalties. Search ‘Self Assessment’ on GOV.UK to find out more.”

There are still an estimated 1.1 million people who missed the deadline date, and those who did are being advised to complete filing and payment as soon as possible.

Penalties for late tax returns are as follows:

• an initial £100 fixed penalty, which applies even if there is no tax to pay, or if the tax due is paid on time
• after 3 months, additional daily penalties of £10 per day, up to a maximum of £900
• after 6 months, a further penalty of 5% of the tax due or £300, whichever is greater
• after 12 months, another 5% or £300 charge, whichever is greater

There are also additional penalties for paying late, which is 5% of the tax unpaid at 30 days, 6 months and 12 months. If tax remains unpaid after the deadline, interest will also be charged on the amount owed, in addition to the penalties above.

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