A record number of taxpayers have filed a self-assessment return online in the run-up to the 31 January deadline, HM Revenue and Customs has revealed.

Despite reports of taxpayers panicking as the deadline looms, an HMRC spokesman confirmed that the department was on course to meet its target of 58% of taxpayers filing online.

‘All the signs are that we are well on the way to achieving the target,’ he said.

Nearly 2.8 million self-assessment returns have been sent in online between 6 April 2008 and 28 December 2008, an increase of 40% on the same period last year.

HMRC staff went on strike on 31 January 2007 in protest against thousands of threatened redundancies in an efficiency drive. However, the HMRC spokesman said a pay deal with staff had been agreed and he was ‘not aware of any issue that could spark a strike or any other union activity’.

The Public and Commercial Services Union confirmed that it was not planning strike action to coincide with the self-assessment deadline but a spokesman added that it was still concerned about staff cuts and tax office closures.

In September former BBC newsreader Moira Stuart became the new face of the HMRC’s self-assessment advertising campaign.

Stuart, who took over from BBC presenter Adam Hart-Davis, is part of the taxman’s campaign to encourage taxpayers to file their returns online and on time.