10 unusual excuses for not filing a tax return… Part II

"A colleague borrowed my tax return to photocopy it and lost it...”

Last week, we took at look at the first half of HMRC’s list of rejected excuses for not completing a Self Assessment tax return on time.

With under a week to go until the deadline for submission, are you and your clients taking full advantage of digital record-keeping?

With online bookkeeping, your client’s Self Assessment worries will disappear.

Sadly, the same can’t be said for some of the following individuals:

6. “My child scribbled all over the tax return, so I wasn't able to send it back.”

In our previous blog, significant others were shouldering the blame for tax return woes; this time around it’s their offspring on the receiving end.

Clearly, there are some who will go to any lengths to avoid paying a fine. Including throwing their kids under the bus (figuratively speaking...we hope).

Unfortunately, what they haven’t taken into account is the fairly obvious fact that tax returns can be reprinted (or completed online, for that matter). D’oh.

Of course, if this user implemented IRIS Docs - making paperless document management a reality - they wouldn't have had this problem to begin with.

7. “I work for myself, but a colleague borrowed my tax return to photocopy it and lost it.” 

This sentence is a masterclass in arousing further suspicion. Not only are they already in HMRC’s bad books for not completing their self assessment tax return in time, they’re admitting to handing it over to colleagues for them to brazenly photocopy, quite possibly for nefarious purposes (see image, above).

8. “My husband told me the deadline was 31 March.”

We return, once again, to placing blame on the other half, who probably has no idea that their dearly beloved is using them as an alibi during an investigation by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

We hope they included, “in sickness and in health, to blame without shame, until death do us part,” in their wedding vows...

9. “My internet connection failed.”

This relatively new excuse is fast becoming the 21st century equivalent of “a dog ate my homework…” and, much like that worn out phrase, it’s becoming less and less justifiable now that the internet is available pretty much everywhere, including Tesco, your local library and even public loos.

10. “The postman doesn't deliver to my house.”

Presented without comment.

Don’t let your clients fall into the same trap those above did.

With online bookkeeping, the need to duplicate data is taken away. Not only that, it also simplifies a host of time-consuming manual tasks, e.g. syncing up directly with a client's bank feed or automating their credit control.

It also does wonders for accountants, offering free marketing materials to boost your practice’s profile, including a FREE listing in our Accountant Directory (which is the top result on Google for the search term ‘find an accountant’), plus much more.

Are you and your clients using KashFlow to take away the stress from traditionally busy periods throughout the year? Discover KashFlow’s wide-ranging benefits and request a demo today:

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