Compliant taxpayers aren’t normally the type to be in the record books but in a press release issued after the big January deadline, HMRC are saying that those who filed their tax return online and on time broke the previous record set last year.

More than 10 million tax returns were received by the 31 January 2014 filing deadline, beating last year’s total of 9.61 million. The record for the number of online returns was also broken with 8.48 million sent online representing almost 85% of all returns received – another record-breaking percentage. Overall 93.4% of taxpayers met either the paper or the online filing deadline.

The busiest day for online returns was 31 January, when HMRC received over half a million alone with the busiest hour occurring between 4pm and 5pm on the same day, when 45,706 returns – more than 12 per second – were received. 21,027 people left it until the final hour filing their online return between 11pm and midnight on deadline day.

As one would expect with any HMRC press release, the filing stats contain a serious message for those who didn’t make the deadline. Missing the deadline results in a £100 late-filing penalty with further penalties kicking in after 3, 6 and 12 months.