Self-assessment tax submission saw record numbers on NYE, reveals HMRC

New figures have revealed that a record number of taxpayers submitted their self-assessment tax returns while the rest of the world was celebrating New Year's Eve.

The latest figures from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) show that 24,546 people submitted their returns online on NYE, representing a 2.8% rise on last year.

New Year's Day

An extra 11,467 people sent off their tax return on New Year’s Day 2016, with more than 600 processing their tax return between midnight and 10am.

Elsewhere over the holiday period, more records were broken. Some decided that Christmas Day was the time to do their returns, with numbers from last year soaring by 13% to 2,044.

Boxing Day also saw 5,402 customers submit their return online rather than brave the traditional start of the sales.

Taxpayers have until the end of January to submit 2014-15 tax returns to HMRC and pay any owed taxes, so being worried about missing out and facing penalties doesn't seem to be the main reason for this year's increases.

Gender difference

Other recent data released by HMRC revealed that women are more likely than men to send in their tax return on time.

Last year, 394 men out of every 10,000 missed the deadline for either paper or online tax returns, whilst there were only 358 late returns from women for every 10,000 received by the Treasury.