Excuses, excusesโ€ฆ

HMRC have released the โ€˜Top 10 oddest excusesโ€™ for sending in a late self assessment return. These include a dead goldfish and a run in with a cow!

The following bizarre, exotic and flimsy excuses have all been used by tardy taxpayers:

  1. My pet goldfish died (self-employed builder)
  2. I had a run-in with a cow (Midlands farmer)
  3. After seeing a volcanic eruption on the news, I couldnโ€™t concentrate on anything else (London woman)
  4. My wife wonโ€™t give me my mail (self-employed trader)
  5. My husband told me the deadline was 31 March, and I believed him (Leicester hairdresser)
  6. Iโ€™ve been far too busy touring the country with my one-man play (Coventry writer)
  7. My bad back means I canโ€™t go upstairs. Thatโ€™s where my tax return is (a working taxi driver)
  8. Iโ€™ve been cruising round the world in my yacht, and only picking up post when Iโ€™m on dry land (South East man)
  9. Our business doesnโ€™t really do anything (Kent financial services firm)
  10. Iโ€™ve been too busy submitting my clientsโ€™ tax returns (London accountant)

All of these people and businesses received a ยฃ100 penalty from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for filing late. They appealed against the decision using these excuses, but were unsuccessful.

HMRCโ€™s Director General of Personal Tax, Ruth Owen, said:

There will always be unforeseen events that mean a taxpayer could not file their tax return on time. However, your pet goldfish passing away isnโ€™t one of them.

At IN Accountancy we successfully filed all our clients 2012-2013 tax returns on time – if you would like us to take the headache away for you next year, please do give us a call. And remember it doesn’t have to wait until the very last minute – we can start yours as early as April!

 

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