As is tradition now, HMRC released tax return submission statistics for the Christmas holiday period - the three days spanning Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
The self assessment in question covers the income from April 2023 to April 2024 - and if you need a quick guide or want to estimate your tax bill without going through a lengthy form, you can use our 2023/2024 tax return calculator.
The trend is showing that more people are using the Christmas break to get their tax return filed and out of the way - with a 54 percent increase over last year. Last year itself had a 20 percent increase year on year.
Here is the daily breakdown - which oddly shows a dip on Christmas Day and Boxing Day this year, but huge jump on Christmas Eve:
| 2023 Submissions | 2024 Submissions | |
|---|---|---|
| Christmas Eve | 9,000 | 23,731 |
| Christmas Day | 5,000 | 4,409 |
| Boxing Day | 12,000 | 11,932 |
| Totals | 26,000 | 40,072 |
Maybe less people wanted to take 3-4 hours out of their celebrations to get a calculator out! - it takes around 3.5 hours to complete a tax return.
This year has tea time (3pm - 4pm) was the busiest Christmas Day period - last year it was earlier (12pm - 1pm).
Remember, the online filing deadline is January 31st and automatic penalties will apply if you miss that date for both submission or payment - even if there is no tax bill due.