Winter is tax season, and with that many people who have not been working on their self-assessment or business tax returns are getting in touch with their tax accountant to make sure they are paying the right amount at the right rate.
As deadline day looms at the end of January, there will inevitably be people who only realise too late that they need to file a return or only start close to the deadline.
This causes them to run the risk of submitting late, and whilst there are reasonable excuses for submitting a late return that stopped you from handling your taxes, there are also some ridiculous futile efforts to avoid late-submission fines.
Here are some of the absolute worst examples of this.
- One Hungry Dog
One of the most mocked excuses for missing an assignment is to claim that the family dog ate your homework, but occasionally it does actually happen.
HMRC knows this, which is why it sends reminders in a range of formats to make sure you don’t miss the deadline.
Still, this has not stopped some people from claiming that the dog ate their tax return and all of the reminders.
Given that so many people use online self-assessment services, this excuse is even flimsier today.
- The World Worrier
Most people like to get away from their worries and problems for a little bit with a nice holiday, and that is perfectly fine given the last two years.
The problem lies in when this is used as an excuse, and so many people have claimed to be in other countries away from all of society’s creature comforts.
Some of the most hilarious examples of this include the person who claimed to be in Australia the entire time, the person who claimed to be up a Welsh mountain away from any form of contact, or the unfortunate soul who spent the past year travelling the world trying to escape foreign intelligence agents.
- The Tax-Free Gang
Possibly the most ridiculous, to the point that there is a good chance that it is a joke, was the man who didn’t pay his taxes because he fell in with the wrong crowd.
Whilst that can lead someone to pick up smoking, or perhaps party a bit too much, it’s not an excuse to not pay your taxes.