Britain's Official Tax Site Falters at Deadline

British taxpayers hoping to file their returns by tonight's UK deadline have been thrown for a loop by crashes of the government’s tax website, the Guardian reports. Midnight tonight is the usual deadline, but it has been extended by 24 hours. Tardy taxpayers in the UK usually face an approximate $200 fine, with additional daily charges of $119 plus interest.

Britons have taken in numbers to online options, with 3.6 million already having filed their returns. Officials suspect the volume of hits on deadline day cause the trouble. Critics blasted the government for not strengthening capacity: "It's completely unacceptable that a state-operated system catering for the entire population can't cope with an estimated 150,000-200,000 filings in one day,” said one banker. (More Britain stories.)