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!