Men More Likely to Miss Tax Deadline

Men are more likely to miss the deadline for tax returns, research by HMRC has revealed.

The tax authority analysed all tax returns for 2012/13 and found that 394 out of every 10,000 returns submitted by men were sent after the deadline.

This compares to 358 out of every 10,000 returns sent by women.

The analysis revealed that younger taxpayers were more likely to miss the self-assessment deadline:

• 1,085 out of every 10,000 returns sent by 18-20 year-olds were late
• 736 per 10,000 returns sent by 21-30 year-olds were late
• 155 per 10,000 sent by people over 65 were late.

Regionally, the worst performing part of the country was London, with 512 per 10,000 people missing the deadline. The South West was the best performing region, with 299 per 10,000 sent in late.

There are also significant disparities between industries:

• employees in the communications industry are the most likely to file their return late (390 per 10,000)
• the agriculture, fishing and forestry industry performed the best (299 per 10,000).

Ruth Owen, director general of personal tax at HMRC, said:

“Whatever your gender, age, occupation or location, if you haven’t sent in your 2013-14 tax return, you need to take action now.

“HMRC offers a range of help and advice. But don’t leave it until the last minute to contact us. Do it now, and avoid a last-minute rush to beat the deadline.”