The Best And Worst Excuses For Not Submitting your Tax Return

For most self-employed workers, the Self Assessment tax return deadline date is burned permanently into the brain. Still, people miss the cut-off every year. If you didn’t submit your form by the time the clock struck…

5 Minute Read

Last Updated: 9th February 2022

For most self-employed workers, the Self Assessment tax return deadline date is burned permanently into the brain. Still, people miss the cut-off every year. If you didn’t submit your form by the time the clock struck midnight on 31 January, the taxman will be approaching you very soon, demanding a reason why.

It’s worth noting, however, that a late tax return shouldn’t automatically mean panic stations. HMRC are strict, but not unreasonable. If you have a perfectly valid excuse for missing the Self Assessment deadline, you could be granted an extension.

Here, we weigh up the good reasons against the bad.

Reasonable excuses for missing the Self Assessment tax return deadline…

Life happens, and the taxman understands this. Sometimes, people are placed in unenviable positions, leaving them with no alternative but to submit their Self Assessment later than they would have liked. Some of the excuses HMRC will consider include:

  • The death of a partner or close relative during the immediate period before the deadline
  • An unexpected illness or admittance to hospital that prevented you from consulting your tax affairs
  • The tax return was lost, stolen or destroyed en route to HMRC and the post service is to blame
  • Tax software failed or crashed in the immediate period before the tax deadline
  • A disability prevented you from submitting your tax return in time
  • Your residence/place of work fell victim to fire, theft or flooding
  • Issues with the HMRC website prevented you from submitting your tax return online successfully

If you can prove any of the above occurred, HMRC may take your appeal for an extension seriously. This is something you can discuss with them over the phone by calling 0300 200 3300.

…and the not-so-reasonable excuses

Over the years, HMRC have published dozens of outlandish statements made by penalised taxpayers.

These range from classics like “my dog ate my tax return” to “my laptop broke”, to the laziest of them all: “I didn’t know about the deadline”. The excuses listed below, though, are the very best of the bunch. They’re all real examples, and unsurprisingly, the taxman didn’t accept a single one.

  • “My tax return was on a yacht… which caught fire”
  • “My husband told me the deadline was 31 March”
  • “My child scribbled all over my tax return so I wasn’t able to send it”
  • “My husband left me and took our accountant with him. I am trying to find a new accountant.”

If the taxman does not accept your excuse for a late Self Assessment submission, you will be liable to pay a penalty.

Penalties for late Self Assessment submissions

HMRC don’t look kindly on taxpayers who miss the Self Assessment tax return deadline without a valid reason. Penalties include:

  • An immediate £100 fine for submitting a Self Assessment after 31 January
  • Daily penalty of £10 per day for up to 90 days after 3 months of no payment
  • 5% of tax due or £300 (whichever is greater) after 6 months of no payment

These fines can vary depending on the severity of your case. But a reliable rule of thumb is that the longer you leave it, the more penalties you will be forced to pay.

If you experienced stress over your tax return this year, don’t let it happen again. Use SimpleTax tax software and get everything sent over to HMRC early. The last thing you want is for your lame excuse to end up on their wall of shame. Stay smart and get it submitted with SimpleTax.

Trusted by over 20,000 subscribers

You don't need to be an expert to complete your self assessment tax return.

Find Out More

Blog content is for information purposes and over time may become outdated, although we do strive to keep it current. It's written to help you understand your Tax's and is not to be relied upon as professional accounting, tax and legal advice due to differences in everyone's circumstances. For additional help please contact our support team or HMRC.

5 Excellent Reasons to Choose Us

Discover how to make tax returns a doddle...

Find out more

What penalties will you pay for filing your Self Assessment tax return late?

01 Mar 2024

So, for whatever reason, you didn’t file your Self Assessment tax return before the midnight 31 January deadline. If it’s the first time it’s…
READ MORE >

Do you need to complete a Self Assessment tax return?

01 Mar 2024

More than 12.1m people a year are required to fill out and file a Self Assessment tax return. Usually, about a million people miss…
READ MORE >

Are you a Brit living overseas who needs to file a Self Assessment tax return?

19 Feb 2024

When you leave the UK, you can leave behind many things you don’t like. The cold, wet, British weather is top of many people’s…
READ MORE >

How GoSimpleTax Works

01.
Register

Simply register for free with your full name and email address.

02.
Select Your Income

Select the income you receive and follow the hints and tips for potential tax savings.

03.
Validate Your Information

Validate your personal information and submit directly to HMRC to get confirmation in just seconds.

ipad

Work Anywhere, With Any Device

Gone are the days of fretting over a calculator surrounded by scraps of paper at the eleventh hour.

GoSimpleTax’s tax return software uses the information you upload in real time to calculate your income and expenditure, working out the tax you owe and sending you helpful notifications when there’s the possibility of a mistake.

Start your free trial

"The software is intuitive and proved very easy to navigate. I found the whole process refreshingly simple. I saved a lot of money too!"

Steve J.

Ordained Presbyter

"Easy to use and value for money. Everything you need to do your tax."

Gordon J.

Self Employed

"It fills in all the forms and sends them to the Inland Revenue. Not expensive either. Takes the stress out of doing your tax return online."

Ross G.

Team Rector

5 reasons to use GoSimpleTax >