People working in finance have come behind lawyers and accountants in a table assessing the fewest late tax returns.

In the latest HMRC data available, the financial profession, grouped together with the insurance and real estate sector, were rated third best at being timely handing in the required documents to the tax man.

But lawyers, accountants and finance professionals were all beaten into top spot by the agriculture, fishing and forestry industry, which, once again topped the chart, with just 71 in every 10,000 returns submitted late.

Lawyers and accountants came second (147 late returns per 10,000), with financial, insurance and real estate sector’s 212 late submissions per 10,000, moving them from fifth place to third.

Those working in the administrative and support services slipped into bottom place (359 per 10,000), with information and communication industries not far behind (330 per 10,000) and education the next worst performing sector (292 per 10,000).

In terms of age, the 18-20 year olds were the worst, with 949 for every 10,000 overdue. Only 118 of every 10,000 tax returns received late came from those aged 65 and over, making them top of the class.

Men dislodged women as the more timely of the two genders when it came to completing their tax return on time, with 294 of every 10,000 tax returns completed late compared to 303.

Taxpayers in London were the worst performers in England, completing 402 late returns for every 10,000. Meanwhile, the South West sent in 236 late returns for every 10,000 making them the English region least likely to miss the January 31 deadline.

The data was released with just four days to left to submit the online tax return.