The death of a goldfish and an unforseen encounter with a cow both feature on HMRC's newly published list of the 'Top 10 oddest excuses' for sending in a tax return late and so incurring the statutory £100 penalty.
A self-employed builder claimed he was so upset when his pet goldfish died that he failed to submit his self assessment return by the 31 January deadline, while a Midlands farmer excused his delay because of a 'run-in with a cow'.
Other 'bizzare, exotic and flimsy' excuses supplied to HMRC include the Leicester hairdresser who said her husband told her the deadline was 31 March, and the self-employed trader who said his wife refused to hand over his mail.
A woman in London claimed that after seeing a volcanic eruption on the news, she was unable to concentrate on anything else and so failed to file her return, and a taxi driver who was known to be working said his bad back meant he could not go upstairs to where his tax return was.
Meanwhile, a writer based in Coventry maintained that touring the country with a one-man play meant he was too busy to handle tax paperwork. Overwork was also the excuse for one London accountant, who said he had been too busy submitting clients' tax returns to deal with his own.
Then there was the South East taxpayer who stated he had been cruising round the world in his yacht, and only picking up post when on dry land, and the Kent financial services firm which informed HMRC 'our business doesn't really do anything'.
HMRC reports that all of these people and businesses received a £100 penalty for filing late. They appealed against the decision using these excuses, but were unsuccessful.
Ruth Owen, HMRC's 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.'
In contrast, HMRC has also published figures showing taxpayers seizing every opportunity to clear their paperwork, with 137 people filing their tax returns between 11pm and midnight on New Year's Eve.
In total 26,905 returns were filed on New Year's Eve, while 12,938 were submitted on New Year's Day, following the more than 1,500 returns received on Christmas Day itself.
