We know submitting your tax return is no joke, but we couldn’t help laughing at HMRC’s latest list of excuses used in the past year in (unsuccessful) appeals against penalties for late filing of tax returns and payment of tax.
So just exactly what were they? Read on below:
1) My pet dog ate my tax return, and all the reminders - we recommend investing in a paper shredder instead, though not for HMRC correspondence obviously!
2) I was up a mountain in Wales, and couldn’t find a post box or get an internet signal - we know the signal is very hit and miss at our local Tescos but this takes the biscuit!.
3) I fell in with the wrong crowd - we assume they weren’t referring to ‘celebrity tax avoiders’...
4) I’ve been travelling the world, trying to escape from a foreign intelligence agency – could this be Jack Bauer - after all he was spotted in London last year.
5) Barack Obama is in charge of my finances - surely this is better than Bernie Madoff?
6) I’ve been busy looking after a flock of escaped parrots and some fox cubs – with 3 cats, 1 dog and 2 kids, we can sympathise.
7) A work colleague borrowed my tax return to photocopy it and didn’t give it back – well it beats some of the more unsavoury antics with a photocopier we suppose?
8) I live in a camper van in a supermarket car park – perhaps it was Tesco’s car park? (see our comments above) .
9) My girlfriend’s pregnant – this is possibly the most lowdown excuse of all and I wouldn’t like to be in his shoes when she finds out!
10) I was in Australia - proof the taxman will track you down wherever you are.
If you’d like to deal with an accountant who’ll put a smile on your face instead of giving you a headache, simply email our friendly tax adviser [email protected].