The inspector has gone for a lie down HMRC

By International Adviser, 7 Jan 15

It's apparent the public are not the only ones guilty of making tax excuses, as Baker Tilly’s George Bull responds to HMRC’s list with his account of the Revenue’s own questionable responses to taxpayer affairs.

Some of the top 10 tax excuses released by HM Revenue & Customs earlier this week certainly edged on the comical, and senior tax partner Bull says “you can understand where HMRC is coming from by making light of an issue as a means of reminding people of the penalties for non-compliance with their tax obligations”.

However, while Bull admits there is humour in these excuses, some of them serve as a reminder that the Revenue “has a responsibility to protect those who, by reason of geography, poverty, disability or age, find themselves unable to ‘interact’ with HMRC digitally”.

In producing his own list, Bull says “we leave you to judge for yourself whether these are funny, or a desperately sad indictment of an under-resourced government department”.