With the 31 January deadline for filing Self Assessment tax returns fast approaching, HMRC believe around 5.4 million workers have yet to file their returns and pay any monies owed for the 2018/19 tax year. Failure to meet this deadline risks incurring a fixed penalty of £100, plus additional daily charges after 3 months.
HMRC accept that there may be extenuating circumstances making it impossible to meet this deadline, in which case they urge workers to contact them as soon as possible. Here are some less than plausible excuses they received last year.
* My mother-in-law is a witch and put a curse on me.
* I'm too short to reach the postbox.
* 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 broke down and my fingers were too cold to type.