HMRC has confirmed that more than 11.48 million people submitted their 2024-25 self-assessment tax returns by the 31 January deadline. This included 475,722 taxpayers who left their filing until the final day and almost 27,456 that filed in the last hour (between 23:00 and 23:59) before the deadline!

There are an estimated 1 million taxpayers that missed the deadline. Are you among those that missed the 31 January 2026 filing deadline for your 2024-25 self-assessment returns?

If you have missed the filing deadline then you will usually be charged a £100 fixed penalty if your return is up to 3 months late, regardless of whether you owed tax or not. If you do not file and pay before 1 May 2026 then you will face further penalties unless you have made an arrangement to pay with HMRC.

If you are unable to pay your tax bill, there is an option to set up an online time to pay payment plan to spread the cost of tax due on 31 January 2026 for up to 12 months. This option is available for debts up to £30,000 and the payment plan needs to be set up no later than 60 days after the due date of a debt.

If you owe self-assessment tax payments of over £30,000 or need longer than 12 months to pay in full, you can still apply to set up a time to pay arrangement with HMRC, but this cannot be done using the online service.