15 December 2005

The number of self-assessment tax returns completed online has increased by 30 per cent in the last year.

According to HM Revenue & Customs, tax return traffic is up by almost a third this year compared to the 1.3 million returns filed online in the last tax year.

"Last year a quarter of a million returns were filed online in the final week, and we anticipate the weeks before January 31st will see a record number of returns filed through the HMRC website," said Roy Massingale, director of self assessment at HM Revenue & Customs.

In an effort to avoid a massive surge in last minute returns made during the final week of January, HM Revenue & Customs has launched a campaign to encourage people to get online and submit their returns as early as possible.

"Online filing is growing in popularity and to get the smoothest experience our advice is complete your online return early, or use off peak times such as evenings or weekends," suggests Mr Massingale.

The last tax year saw 9.8 million self-assessment tax returns filed, but almost 100,000 £100 penalty notices were issued for returns filed after the deadline of January 31st.

© Adfero Ltd

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