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As the deadline approaches for submitting returns, here are HMRC’s strangest reasons for late or failed submissions, from taxpayers who missed the Self-Assessment deadline last year.

  • My mother-in-law is a witch and put a curse on me.
  • I’m too short to reach the post box.
  • I was just too busy – my first maid left, my second maid stole from me, and my third maid was very slow to learn.
  • Our junior member of staff registered our client in Self-Assessment by mistake because they were not wearing their glasses.
  • My boiler had broken, and my fingers were too cold to type.

There were also some dubious expenses claims for unconvincing items like woolly underwear and pet insurance for a dog. Some of the most questionable 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 five years.
  • £756 for a dog’s pet insurance.
  • A music subscription, so someone could listen to music while they worked
  • A family holiday to Nigeria.

None of these excuses and expenses were successful!