HM Revenue and Customs has revealed that 1,566 people found time during the Christmas Day festivities to send an online tax return.

The figure represents a one per cent increase on the 1,548 people who filed online on Christmas Day 2012.

The busiest filing hour on Christmas Day was just before lunch, from midday to 1pm, when 144 people hit the send button on their completed return.

This followed 17,000 individuals who booted up their computers, got their financial information together and sent an online tax return on Christmas Eve. This was up 19 per cent on the 14,330 returns received on December 24, 2012.

The Boxing Day holiday saw another 4,493 people send their tax return over the internet, a four per cent fall from the 4,685 received last year.

In total, 23,059 online returns were received over the three-day period, up 12 per cent on the 2012 total of 20,563.

Halton taxpayers are reminded that the deadline for sending 2012/13 tax returns to HMRC, and paying any tax owed, is January 31, 2014.

However, taxpayers who owe less than £3,000, and want HMRC to collect the tax they owe through next year’s tax code, need to submit an online return by midnight on 30 December.

For general help and advice on completing a return, visit www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa or call the Self Assessment helpline on 0300 200 3310 (open 8am to 8 pm, Monday to Friday, and from 8am to 4 pm on Saturdays).