Every year the HMRC are inundated, with weird and wonderful excuses to why people cannot meet the fast approaching January tax return deadline. Along with excuses they also get some fairly optimistic expense claims. Here are a few for starters –
Excuses
- I couldn’t file my return on time as my wife has been seeing aliens and won’t let me enter the house
- I’ve been far too busy touring the country with my one-man play
- My ex-wife left my tax return upstairs, but I suffer from vertigo and can’t go upstairs to retrieve it
- My business doesn’t really do anything
- I spilt coffee on it
Claims
- A three-piece suite for my partner to sit on when I’m doing my accounts.
- Birthday drinks at a Glasgow nightclub.
- Vet fees for a rabbit.
- Hotel room service – for candles and prosecco.
- £4.50 for sausage and chips meal expenses for 250 days.
Whether your wife is seeing aliens, or you suffer from intense vertigo that prevents you from accessing the top part of your house or even, insistent on sausage and chips for 250 days straight. Tax returns are a serious matter and can lead to hefty fines if you are late.
Being late by a single day will lead to an automatic £100 fine, this will then go up by £10 everyday for 3 Months. After that and additional £300 will be added or 5% of the due tax. If the delay carries on you will be fine another £300 or another 5% – In serious cases your fined 100% of your bill doubling your payment.
So it really pays to have your taxes in order, with this being said it’s not always a straightforward process. But there are always companies who specialise in this area and are on hand to help. DE Ball are a chartered accountant service who able to provide just this help and ensure your taxes are sorted well in advance and the process runs smoothly.