With less than two months remaining before the Self Assessment deadline on 31 January, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is encouraging UK households to take prompt action. To better understand how people manage their tax returns, HMRC has launched an online poll asking taxpayers to identify whether they are “early birds”—those who file shortly after the new tax year begins—or “dippers,” who complete their returns intermittently throughout the year.
The poll, running for seven days on HMRC’s social media channels including X, LinkedIn, and Facebook, also highlights the risks faced by “last-minute panickers” who wait until the final hours of the deadline to submit their forms.
Last year in the West Midlands alone, 846,517 Self Assessment customers filed on time. Nationwide, more than 11.5 million taxpayers submitted their 2023 to 2024 tax returns before the deadline. Already, for the 2024 to 2025 tax year, around 58,000 early bird taxpayers have submitted their returns as early as 6 April 2024, the earliest date possible.
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HMRC Chief Customer Officer, Myrtle Lloyd, emphasized the importance of timely filing: “For customers yet to file, there’s still time to start and submit an accurate tax return. Don’t leave something as important as your tax return to the last minute. Visit GOV.UK to begin today.”
Filing early allows taxpayers to take advantage of the comprehensive online support available and gives them flexibility to review and update their returns before final submission. Additionally, submitting early provides more time to plan their payment options since the tax bill does not need to be paid immediately after filing.
HMRC encourages everyone to act now rather than risk the stress and potential penalties associated with last-minute filing.