Interesting story from the BBC:  Christmas Used for Tax, Not Turkey.  Here is the opening:

What does Christmas day mean for you … turkey, presents and time spent with family, perhaps? Some Britons, it seems, shun the festive fun and use Christmas day as a chance to sort out their tax affairs. According to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), 306 Britons filed their self assessment tax return online during Christmas day 2004. It said that the festive period was a surprisingly busy time for self assessment filing. In fact, 12,000 returns were filed over last year’s four day Christmas holiday period. "We have always recommended that people file early and outside the busiest periods – and we are pleased to see that some taxpayers have taken this to heart, even at Christmas," Roy Massingale, director of self assessment at the HMRC, said.