I have seen many unusual excuses from Self Assessment Vertice Services clients.
Each year HMRC receives a number of unusual excuses from Self Assessment customers who didn’t complete their tax return on time.
Some of them are very funny, please see below:
HMRC self assessment excuses:
- “My tax return was on my yacht…which caught fire”
- “A wasp in my car caused me to have an accident and my tax return, which was inside, was destroyed”
- “My wife helps me with my tax return, but she had a headache for ten days”
- “My dog ate my tax return…and all of the reminders”
- “I couldn’t complete my tax return, because my husband left me and took our accountant with him. I am currently trying to find a new accountant”
- “My child scribbled all over the tax return, so I wasn’t able to send it back”
- “I work for myself, but a colleague borrowed my tax return to photocopy it and lost it”
- “My husband told me the deadline was the 31 March”
- “My internet connection failed”
- “The postman doesn’t deliver to my house”
The reasons above were all used in unsuccessful appeals against HMRC penalties for late returns.
