More than half of sole traders (52%) are still yet to submit their self-assessment tax returns before the deadline, research from Quickbooks reveals.

Sole traders only have a handful of days to submit their tax return before 31 January, and avoid a HMRC penalty.

The Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG) is urging those yet to submit their self-assessment for 2021/22 to do so within the next 11 days.

Unlike the previous two years, HMRC will not extend the deadline, so filing after the midnight cut-off point will result in an automatic £100 penalty.

Tom Henderson, technical officer at the LITRG, said:

"Do not leave it until the last minute, as you may discover that you do not have all the necessary information, or you may need to get help."

Pauline Green, head of product compliance at cloud accounting software provider QuickBooks, said:

"For sole traders in particular, AI software can quickly reduce the workload of financial admin by tracking business expenses with greater accuracy."

Talk to us about your self-assessment tax return.