Now that we are just weeks away from the self-assessment deadline, here are some fun facts issued by HMRC:
- 96,519 people filed their tax return on 6 April 2020 (first day of the tax year);
- It’s now the 20th anniversary of Self Assessment internet filing, the service began on 3 July 2000;
- In January 2011, 3.4 million taxpayers completed a Self Assessment tax return online – this has increased to an estimated 5 million in January 2021;
- This year’s deadline (31 January 2021) is on a Sunday. The last time the deadline was on a Sunday was in 2016;
- Last year, the busiest filing day was 31 January 2020 with 702,171 returns completed;
- The peak hour for filing last year was between 16:00 to 16:59 on 31 January when 56,969 customers filed;
- HMRC has increased the self-serve Time to Pay threshold to £30,000 to help Self Assessment customers spread the cost of their tax bill.
Perhaps the most important fact is the last bullet point which enables taxpayers to spread the cost of their tax bill, providing that less than £30k is owed. You can read more about this recent change here.
According to official figures, 12.1 million people are due to complete a Self Assessment tax return by 31 January 2021. Figures released earlier this month revealed that 55% of customers have already filed their returns, with more than 6.2 million choosing to submit online (93% of all returns filed).
As ever, please be wary of fake HMRC websites and scams, these are always rife as the self assessment deadline looms. Good luck with getting those returns in!
