Every year, following the 31 January Self Assessment (SA) deadline, HMRC receives a number of what it calls "imaginative and intriguing" excuses for not completing tax returns on time. 

Recent excuses include:

1. I couldn’t file my return on time as my wife has been seeing aliens and won’t let me enter the house.

2. I’ve been far too busy touring the country with my one-man play.

3. My ex-wife left my tax return upstairs, but I suffer from vertigo and can’t go upstairs to retrieve it.

4. My business doesn’t really do anything.

5. I spilt coffee on ...