Each year, HMRC receives extremely imaginative excuses and expense claims as to why people have not paid their tax return for the year. They have recently put together an article of the top 10 reasons they have received over the past decade from customers who missed the deadline.
In no particular order (but with our favourite one last), here they are:
10. “I was up a mountain in Wales and couldn’t find a post box or get an internet signal”
9. “My dog ate the post… again”
8. “My hamster ate my post”
7. “Caravan rental for the Easter weekend”
6. “Claiming £4.50 for sausage and chips meal expenses for 250 days”
5. “A music subscription so I can listen to music while I work”
4. “I’ve been cruising round the world in my yacht, and only picking up post when I’m on dry land”
3. “A DJ was too busy with a party lifestyle – spinning the deck… in a bowls club”
2. “My mother in-law is a witch and put a curse on me”
And number one…
“Pet food for a Shih Tzu guard dog”
While uniquely creative, HMRC have confirmed that all excuses and expenses listed above were unsuccessful.
Angela MacDonald, HMRC Director General of Customer Services has said, “Each year, we try to make it as easy and simple as possible for our customers to complete their tax returns and the majority make the effort to do theirs’ right and on time. But we still come across some unusual excuses and expenses…”, “We always offer help to those who have a genuine excuse for not submitting their return on time. It is unfair to the majority of honest taxpayers when others make bogus claims.”.
How to complete your tax return
Here at Cutter & Co, we have put together a simple article with everything you need to know about how to pay your self assessment tax bill, which you can find here.
Note that the deadlines for paying your tax bill are usually:
- 31st January – for any tax you owe for the previous tax year and your first payment on account
- 31st July – for your second payment on account
Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/hmrc-highlights-a-decade-of-bizarre-excuses-and-expense-claims
