Almost 900,000 people face fines of £100 for failing to submit tax returns to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) by the 31 January deadline.

HMRC said 890,000 missed the deadline which passed at midnight on the last day of January.

Without a good excuse, tardy self-assessment filers will face more fines after three, six and 12 months.

Within the numbers there was good and bad news; the number of people missing the deadline was up on last year, but well below the 1.6 million recorded in 2010.

Also the total number of people complying ahead of the deadline improved, with 10.24 million filing on time.

A steep rise in the number of self-employed people means more people are being asked to fill out a return.

Ruth Owen, HMRC's director general of personal tax, said: "This is another record-breaking year for self-assessment, with 210,000 more people filing their returns on time than last year.”

But she added: "If you're one of the minority who missed the deadline, you still need to get your tax return to us as soon as possible, to avoid further penalties and interest mounting up.”

Further fines levelled at late payers include £10 per day up to three months and an additional 5% levy after six months on the total amount of tax owed.