‘I’m too short to reach the post box’: HMRC reveal lame excuses for submitting tax returns
In a bid to remind people in Gedling borough about the looming self-assessment tax deadline, HMRC has revealed some of the terrible excuses they have received from people failing to submit their return on time.
One person attempting to avoid a £100 fine said: “My mother-in-law is a witch and put a curse on me”
Another failing to send in their forms claimed they were: “too short to reach the post box.”
One other said they’d missed the deadline because their boiler had broken and their fingers were too cold to type.
As well as unbelievable excuses, every year HMRC said they also receive some dubious expenses claims for unconvincing items like woolly underwear and pet insurance for a dog.
Some of the most questionable claims include:
- a carpenter claiming £900 for a 55-inch TV and sound bar to help him price his jobs
- £40 on extra woolly underwear, for 5 years
- £756 for my pet dog insurance
- a music subscription, so I can listen to music while I work
- a family holiday to Nigeria
All these excuses and expenses were unsuccessful.
HMRC’s Angela MacDonald said: “We want to make it as simple as possible for our customers to do their tax returns and the majority make the effort to do theirs right and on time. But each year we still come across some poor excuses and expenses which range from problems with maids to televisions.
“Help will always be provided for those who have a genuine excuse for not submitting their return on time but it’s unfair to the majority of honest taxpayers when others make bogus claims.”
The deadline for sending 2017 to 2018 Self Assessment tax returns to HMRC, and paying any tax owed, is January 31, 2019.
