Wednesday night's online self assessment deadline is fast approaching but the latest numbers put around four million tax returns at risk of fines and penalties.
The tax return due declares income for the period April 2022 to April 2023 has a final online submission date of midnight 31st January, but 3.8 million people risk missing this and getting an instant £100 late filing penalty - regardless of whether any tax may be due.
The number of tax returns submitted since the start of the year alone is around two million returns, signalling a heady pace of people leaving it to the last minute. At that point, six million were still outstanding.
The figures come as it is revealed that record numbers of taxpayers have opted to use the HMRC Time to Pay facility in order to spread their tax bill payments in a regular payment plan.
This year the number of people spreading tax bill payments so far has reached 45,000 - opting to spread a total of £150 million in a regular payment. Averaged out this is equivalent to about £3,000 per taxpayer.