The surprising thing hundreds of people did with the last hour of 2025

But 5 million people still need to file their self-assessment tax return before the deadline

figures show over 300 people spent the last hour of 2025 doing their tax return (Getty Images)

Hundreds of individuals chose to ring in the new year by tackling their tax obligations, with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) figures revealing that 342 people submitted their self-assessment returns in the final hour of 2025.

As the January 31 deadline for the 2024-25 tax year looms, a total of 54,053 taxpayers opted to complete their returns across New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

The busiest period for submissions during the festive break was between 11am and 11:59am on December 31, when 3,927 returns were processed.

More than 6.36 million taxpayers have submitted their tax return and nearly 5.65 million still need to complete their self-assessment form before the deadline.

The tax return deadline in the UK is January 31 2026 (Alamy/PA)

Those who miss the deadline could face an initial late filing penalty of £100, followed by possible further penalties. The £100 fixed penalty applies even if there is no tax to pay or if the tax due is paid on time.

Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s chief customer officer, said: “What better way than to ensure your tax affairs are in order for another year than completing your tax return.

“If you have yet to start, the clock is ticking, go to gov.uk and start today.”

HMRC said people can start their tax return, save it and revisit it as many times as they need to before they submit it. Once they have sent it, the bill does not have to be paid straight away, but does need to be paid before the January 31 deadline, the revenue body said.

People can set up notifications in the HMRC app to ensure they know when payments are due so they do not miss a deadline.

People who are unable to meet the deadline are being urged to tell HMRC before January 31. HMRC said it will treat those with reasonable excuses fairly.

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Criminals may use the deadline to send out fake messages purporting to be from HMRC. The revenue body said people should never share their HMRC login details with anyone.