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HMRC has heavily promoted its online filing facility for tax returns through an advertising campaign headed by TV presenter Adam Hart-Davis. Around 150,000 people filed their tax return on the final day last year.

The site went down for several hours on Thursday morning. A message on the site read, “We are sorry but the service is currently unavailable. Further information is provided. We apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause."

A spokesman told SME Web that HMRC had managed to solve a technical problem and expected the service to become available again around lunchtime.

In view of the disruption HMRC executives decided to extend the 31 January deadline for completing taxpayers' self assessments and payments, however, until midnight on 1 February. 

Taxpayers who file their tax return before midnight on Friday will not face an automatic £100 a day fine plus interest on tax payable.

HMRC dismissed claims by some newspapers and broadcast media that its online filing systems are not secure because Members of Parliament and a small number of other taxpayers cannot use the self assessment service.

“This is completely untrue. A small minority of taxpayers, including MPs, cannot currently use online services because the additional internal safeguards on their records mean that their taxpayer reference numbers are not recognised on the authentication system,” a spokesman said.

HMRC added that this had nothing to do with the security of its online services. It said that its online services use the highest levels of encryption generally available and authentication processes similar to online banks.

Almost three million self assessment taxpayers have used the website to file their return.

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Related links

• HMRC
• Self assessment websit