Record Number of Self-Assessments Filed
A record number of self-assessments was filed at the end of January. This comes in part because HMRC stood firm on the 31st January deadline, despite many calling for it to be pushed back until the 3rd of February.
With a rise in self-employment in the past tax year and a record number of new small businesses being registered in 2013, many felt that the deadline should be pushed back slightly to accommodate those filling out their return for the first time. However, HMRC stood firm on the January deadline.
However, a record 10.03 million people managed to file their tax return on time. This leaves an estimated 710,000 expected to complete their tax returns late and face penalties.
The deadline day itself was the busiest, with 569,847 filing their tax returns on 31st of January. Between 4 and 5 PM, the busiest single hour, the number of tax returns filed was equivalent to over 12 every second.