Self-assessment income tax return deadline

At least come 26 December Father Christmas can unleash his reindeer put away his sleigh pull off his wellies and have a well-earned rest. Sadly the same cannot be said for the hard-pressed personal tax adviser. December may be the busiest time of year for St Nick but for some the work continues until midnight on 31 January.

So how is it for you dear reader as January progresses? To say that 2020 was not the easiest of years for anyone is a litotes and it is hard to see that in the short term things will ease. But irrespective of Covid-19 and all that the usual tax routine jobs must be done and the 31 January deadline is barely three weeks away.

The question is – how realistic is it to expect taxpayers and their advisers to...