Up to £503 million will be paid by Brits who filed their self-assessment forms late this year, highlighting the importance of using adequate tax solutions.

Figures published by unbiased.co.uk show that this has increased by £24 million since last year, due to late returns, miscalculations and additional surcharges on unpaid tax.

Karen Barrett, chief executive of the website, warned that a failure to manage personal or business finances could result in an easily-avoided financial penalty.

"[Failure to correctly submit] will result in hefty fines which can easily be avoided through careful planning. In the current climate, where money is tighter than ever, we are urging consumers to take 'tax action'," she stated.

The money will include £104 million in penalties for missing the initial January 31st deadline, £319 million due to miscalculations when completing the paperwork and an additional £80 million in surcharges for unpaid tax for previous years.

In other news, HM Revenue and Customs has centralised its agent detail registration in order to accelerate the process for registering agent authorisation applications.