Funny: UK's taxman desn't fall for fishy excuses

A builder who handed in his tax return late blamed the death of his pet goldfish, while a farmer said it was the fault of an unruly cow.

Funny: UK's taxman desn't fall for fishy excuses Rh-729-fish_20140103174334311451-620x349

Funny: UK's taxman desn't fall for fishy excuses Rh-729-fish_20140103174334311451-620x349

A third culprit said he failed to send in his forms after becoming obsessed with an erupting volcano on the television news.

They were among thousands of excuses used by British individuals and businesses last year in a bid to avoid paying a penalty for a late tax return. But, while

Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs says it considers genuine explanations, it has little regard for lame excuses.
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As the top ten was disclosed, officials said all had been hit with £100 fines for late returns. They had all appealed, but lost their actions.

The list was released to encourage the self-employed, and other taxpayers, to meet this year’s January 31 deadline.

In all, 10.9 million Britons are due to file tax returns this month.

The number required to fill in a self-assessment form has been inflated by changes to Child Benefit.

Any household with an individual earning more than £50,000 must now complete the form if they still receive the benefit.

Ruth Owen, the director general of personal tax, said: ‘‘There will always be unforeseen events that mean a taxpayer could not file their tax return on time.

‘‘However, your pet goldfish passing away isn’t one of them.’’

The ten worst excuses are:

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

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/money/tax/taxman-desnt-fall-for-fishy-excuses-20140103-309f4.html#ixzz2pgwJ64jc

Funny: UK's taxman desn't fall for fishy excuses

Funny: UK's taxman desn't fall for fishy excuses

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