Data workers 'almost the worst' at filing with HMRC

Reminders to self-assess before the January 31^st deadline need to jog more memories in IT, as the sector is now the second biggest recipient of penalties for filing late.

In fact, only workers in Administration and Support Services are worse than those in Information and Communication at submitting their tax returns on time.

Techies doing ‘Professional, Scientific and Technical’ (PST) activities don’t fare much better, accounting for 203 of 10,000 late returns, versus 250 for Information and Communication (IC).

But such PST self-assessors are only the ninth poorest at making the January cut-off, whereas those in IC are -- after ‘Other’ -- the second worst out of a total of 15 different industries.

“We saw huge reductions in the number of tax returns being sent in late last year,” said HM Revenue & Customs, which released the industries’ data ahead of the deadline on the 31st.

The tax office, which charges at least £100 for a late tax return, added: “Our customers are obviously becoming more punctual, but we won’t be happy until we’re at zero [late returns].”