A record two million people have failed to file and pay their taxes on time, as freelancers and landlords struggle with rising living costs. 

Close to one in five self-assessment taxpayers missed the Jan 31 cut off, with only 10.2 million out of 12.2 million handing in their paperwork on time. 

It is up from the 1.8 million who filed late last year, which was also a record-breaking year and more than double the 958,000 people who filed late in 2020. 

Andy Chamberlain of Ipse, the trade body for the self-employed, said a large proportion was struggling to pay up in the face of rising inflation and soaring energy bills. This has come after incomes took repeated hits throughout the pandemic. 

“Freelancers have been hit with a double whammy of omicron hurting their businesses, as well as spiralling living costs, which has left little left to pay their taxes this year.

“The self-employed are also now being forced to pay taxes on the income support grants they received in 2020 and may also be starting to pay back bounce back loans taken out during the worst of the crisis. It all placed enormous pressure on their finances,” he added.