The new tax year starts on April 6th each year, and this also signals that the previous twelve month period is now available to collate financial records.
On April 6th 2022, the 2022/2023 tax year began and for those who are required to submit self assessment tax returns, the 2021/2022 tax year became open for submissions.
At the moment, people have up to 9 months to use the online filing system to file their tax return and pay any taxes due. The current deadline is January 31st 2023.
Some people however don't leave things to the last minute, in fact in an increasing trend, there are a large amount of people who submit their tax return on the first day of the new tax year.
It is a wise decision as it leaves plenty of time for amendments, any tax refund due is paid early, the last minute rush is avoided and budgeting and financial assessment data is crunched at the earliest opportunity - particularly with the option to set up a budget payment plan to pay the tax bill via direct debit.
A tax return can also be completed in stages, so those starting to file online now can come back later to fill in missing sections.
This year there were 66,465 tax returns filed on April 6th. The number rising by 30,000 over the same day last year.
The trend seems to have accelerated since the 2020 lockdown period, as you can see from the table below:
| Date | No. of online returns filed (tax return period) |
|---|---|
| April 6th 2018 | 36,939 (2017/18) |
| April 6th 2019 | 35,255 (2018/19) |
| April 6th 2020 | 96,519 (2019/20) |
| April 6th 2021 | 63,521 (2020/21) |
| April 6th 2022 | 66,465 (2021/22) |
Those wishing to get a quick estimate of their tax liabilities but only have either estimates of their income figures or don't want to complete an entire tax return at HMRC to see the tax calculation can use our free specialist tax tools.
Use our multiple income tax estimate tool to see what the tax bill could be for any tax year. All income types are covered from PAYE, self employment through to dividends, savings, property and capital gains.