A growing trend of people getting their finances in order at the earliest opportunity is being seen with tax returns. Right at the start of the 2021 tax year, 63,500 people submitted their completed self assessment for the previous tax year.
A month later and nearly a million self assessments have been recorded by HMRC for the 2020 to 2021 tax year.
Statistics show that early filers are becoming more common with the numbers rising year on year over the last five years. The number of people who filed their tax return on the first day of a new tax year has nearly trebled since 2017, rising from 23,000 to 64,000.
HMRC says that there are many advantages to getting your tax return submitted early, not least as it beats the usual rush toward the deadline. There are less chances of missing the deadline, or making a mistake as well as getting any calculated tax refund back sooner.
Below are the numbers of people filing a tax return at the first opportunity over the last five years. An obvious anomaly in the data is April 2020, where due to lockdown and financial considerations people would have more time or possibly the need for an expedited tax refund.
| Date | Tax Returns received for previous tax year |
|---|---|
| April 6th 2017 | 22,885 |
| April 6th 2018 | 36,939 |
| April 6th 2019 | 35,255 |
| April 6th 2020 | 96,519 |
| April 6th 2021 | 63,521 |