More people filed their returns before deadline
Did you stick to your 2015 New Year resolution and file your Self Assessment tax return within good time before the deadline of 31st January 2016 or did your initial determination and enthusiasm wane with time and you found yourself wasting last Sunday in front of your computer screen filling in your tax return details?
If you were disciplined enough to file your return in good time before last Sunday’s deadline then you were in good company because 10.39 million tax returns were completed ahead of 31st January; that’s over 92% of the total returns expected, and 150,000 more than last year.
Over 89% of taxpayers, 9.24 million used HMRC’s online Self Assessment service to calculate and pay the tax they owe.
There were still a good number however who had to give up their Sunday to attend to their filing obligations – 385,000 to be precise.
29th January was the busiest day with over 513,271 returns completed. That’s more than 21,386 returns filed per hour. The busiest period was between 14:00 – 15:00, when 50,358 people submitted their returns. More than 45 million returns were filed in January, representing 43% of the filing total.
823,000 returns were filed on the last two days of January, representing 18% of the total returns filed for that month.
Ruth Owen, Director General for Personal Tax said:
“We all know it’s easy to put off completing your Self Assessment tax return, which is why it’s fantastic to see more customers than ever before completing theirs on time this year.
Each year we’re dedicated to making the Self Assessment process easier and more intuitive. Our biggest innovation this year was the launch of the online Personal Tax Account, with more than 825,000 customers accessing it as they completed their tax returns. Our new online tools proved just as popular with more than 328,967 customers taking part in webchats in the last two weeks of January, ensuring that they were able to submit before the 31 January deadline.”
Although in excess of 10 million tax returns were submitted online and was a record, there still remains around 870,000 returns outstanding and those individuals now face the prospect of a £100 fixed penalty.
Leave a Reply