Tax return excuses

Tax returns delayed by aliens and vertigo HMRC has revealed some of the excuses offered up for tax returns being filed late, with one person saying that their ex-wife had left their tax return upstairs, “but I suffer from vertigo and can’t go upstairs to retrieve it.” Another told the Revenue: “I couldn’t file my return on time as my wife has been seeing aliens and won’t let me enter the house.” Other excuses saw one taxpayer saying “my business doesn’t really do anything”, another claiming they spilt coffee on their return and one offering that they have been “far too busy” touring the country with their one-man play. On some of the more outlandish expenses claims, one taxpayer tried to get money back on birthday drinks at a nightclub while another listed vet fees for a rabbit, with one taxpayer making a claim for a three-piece suite for their partner to sit on while they were doing their accounts. HMRC said that each self-assessment round tends to see “a number of imaginative and intriguing excuses for not completing tax returns on time”, as well as “some wildly optimistic expense claims.”