HMRC share their strangest reasons for late submissions.

As accountants, I love helping our clients not have to use an excuse to miss a deadline that the HMRC have set in place, and the most stressful time of year for many can be the January 31st deadline for their personal tax return. I thought I’d share some light humor for you when it comes to reasons why people don’t file their returns online to help you have a giggle and a little reminder that preparing ahead of the deadline is always the best option! Of all the excuses that were shared, here are some of our personal favorites:

• my mother-in-law is a witch and put a curse on me
• I’m too short to reach the post box
• 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 had broken and my fingers were too cold to type

As you can see, “the dog ate it” is a little too simple for some! It can be a very stressful time, which is why I ensure all of our client’s submissions are done well in advance of the deadline, so they can financially prepare to pay the sum with time to spare. This comes with requests for all documents by 31st October, so the team can carefully go through everything with a fine tooth comb and ensure they are claiming all that is reasonable, and expense everything that can be, so their bills aren’t confusing and overwhelming. What’s a great excuse you have heard in your industry for not completing something by a specific deadline? I’d love to hear!