What’s Your Excuse?

HMRC reveal humorous late filing excuses

As the deadline for Self Assessment tax return filing looms large, HMRC have published ten bizarre, exotic and flimsy excuses made by taxpayers for not filing their returns on time.

1. My pet goldfish died (self-employed builder).
2. I had a run-in with a cow (Midlands farmer).
3. After seeing a volcanic eruption on the news, I couldn’t concentrate on anything else (London female).
4. My wife won’t give me my mail (self-employed trader).
5. My husband told me the deadline was 31st March and I believed him (Leicester hairdresser).
6. I’ve been far too busy touring the country with my one-man play (Coventry writer).
7. My bad back means I can’t go upstairs. That’s where my tax return is (taxi driver).
8. I’ve been cruising round in my yacht, and only picking up post when I’m on dry land (South East man).
9. Our business doesn’t really do anything (Kent financial services firm).
10. I’ve been too busy submitting my clients’ tax returns (London accountant).

Each of these individuals and businesses received a late filing penalty of £100 from HMRC and lost their appeals against the decision.

Ruth Owen, HMRC’s Director General of Personal Tax, said, “There will always be unforeseen events that mean a taxpayer could not file their return on time. However, your pet goldfish passing away isn’t one of them.”

Generally, a ‘reasonable excuse’ is when some unforeseeable or unusual event beyond a person’s control has prevented them from filing their tax return on time. For example:

• a failure in the HMRC computer system
• a person’s computer breaks down just before or during the preparation of their online return
• a serious illness, disability or serious mental health condition has made a person incapable of filing their tax return
• someone who registered for HMRC Online Services but didn’t get their Activation Code in time

A reasonable excuse can only apply if the problem actually prevents you from filing your return on time when you otherwise would have done. Each case is unique and will be considered on its own merits.

HMRC will not accept the following examples as a reasonable excuse:

• found the online system too complicated to follow
• left everything to your accountant to do and they let you down
• forgot about the deadline
• did not try to re-submit your return on time once a problem with the IT system was put right
• registered for HMRC Online Services after the filing deadline

For those contractors who have yet to file their tax return they need no reminding that they only have until 31st January to do so to avoid the fixed penalty of £100 or come up with a more original excuse for not doing so!