Record Number of On-Time Tax Returns
05 February 2013
A record 9.61 million people found “inner peace” and sent their tax return on time this year, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has revealed.
With 10.34 million people in Self Assessment in 2011-12, this means that around 93 out of every 100 taxpayers (92.9 per cent) met the return deadlines – 31 October for paper and 31 January for online.Of the 9.61 million on-time tax returns, 7.93 million (82.5 per cent) were sent online – a record number. The remaining 1.68 million (17.5 per cent) were sent on paper.
Anyone who hasn’t yet sent their 2011-12 tax return to HMRC will have already incurred a £100 late-filing penalty. To avoid any further penalties, they should send their return as soon as possible, as well as pay any outstanding tax due for the 2011-12 tax year.
The busiest day for online returns was 31 January, when HMRC received 578,000 returns. The busiest hour occurred between 4pm and 5pm on 31 January, when 46,000 returns – more than 12 per second – were received by HMRC.
Overall, the Revenue’s computer systems were able to handle the peak workload.