Latest analysis from HMRC shows that women are more likely than men to send in their tax return on time. For every 10,000 tax returns received last year by HMRC from men, 394 were after either the paper or online deadline, compared to 358 late returns for every 10,000 received from women
As well as a gender gap, HMRC’s analysis showed a significant difference in filing behaviour between age ranges. People aged 18 to 20 were the worst offenders, with 1,085 in every 10,000 filing late. At the other end of the scale, those aged 65 or over were the most punctual, with only 155 out of every 10,000 missing the deadline.
HMRC’s industry analysis shows that those working in the agriculture, fishing and forestry are best at getting tax information in on time, with just 109 in every 10,000 filing late returns. Lawyers and accountants came second (219 late filers per 10,000), with health and social workers (262 per 10,000) in third place.
Workers in the information and communication industries fared the worst (390 per 10,000), with administrative and support services not far behind (388 per 10,000) and the construction industry the next worst performing sector (352 per 10,000).
Within the English regions, South West taxpayers were the least likely to miss the deadline (299 per 10,000), while the worst-performing region was London (512 per 10,000).
Ruth Owen, HMRC director general of personal tax, said: ‘Whatever your gender, age, occupation or location, if you haven’t sent in your 2013-14 tax return, you need to take action now.
‘HMRC offers a range of help and advice. But don’t leave it until the last minute to contact us. Do it now, and avoid a last-minute rush to beat the deadline.’
With three weeks to go until the final deadline, CIOT is warning taxpayers to complete their online self assessment returns in good time before 31 January, saying that predicted record numbers of returns are likely to put unprecedented pressure on HMRC’s systems.
CIOT says rising levels of self-employment in the UK mean there will be over one million more returns this year, with an estimated 11.2m people needing to file for the 2013/14 tax year.
Last year 10m self assessment returns were submitted on time but close to one million people missed the deadline, subjecting themselves to penalties of £100 or more. Around 8.48m of the 2014 total were filed online, with over 550,000 submitted on the deadline day itself and around 21,000 between 11pm and midnight on 31 January.
CIOT points out that filing online requires users to have an HMRC ‘Online Account’ which can take up to seven days to set up as they will need an activation code. The institute is also reminding high income taxpayers in receipt of child benefit (or whose partners receive child benefit) that they will need to file a self assessment tax return.
