Friday 1st February 2008
An extra 24 hours has been added to the deadline for self-assessment tax returns, according to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
The government body explains that technical difficulties restricted access to the service yesterday, January 31st.
In order to provide all users with the opportunity to file their tax returns online, the deadline has now been extended to midnight on February 1st.
"Problems with the service meant that some taxpayers experienced difficulties filing online," HMRC asserts.
"HMRC takes any disruption of service very seriously ... we very much regret any inconvenience this may have caused."
More than 200,000 self-assessment tax returns were filed successfully over the course of the day, taking the total number of online submissions to 3.7 million.
Pensions administrators are also being given an extra day to avoid penalties after similar difficulties prevented access to the Pension Schemes Online filing service.
HMRC recently stated that, although MPs cannot use the online tax returns process, it is secure.
The government body claimed that the reason MPs do not use the service is not due to security concerns but because their tax codes are not recognised by the system.
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