Intimate waxing? Worst tax return expense claims revealed

Beauty therapist Susanne Baird waxing the legs of comic Fred MacAulay during her world record leg waxing attempt in Edinburgh. Credit: Danny Lawson / PA Archive/PA Images

As the seven-day countdown to the Self Assessment deadline begins, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has revealed the top five most outrageous personal expenses claims included in last year’s Self Assessment tax returns.

The expenses range from furnishing a new flat to the cost of storing Mars bars overnight in a fridge.

Here’s the full list of bizarre expenses that some taxpayers have tried, and failed, to claim for:

  • The costs for storing Mars bars overnight in a fridge

  • The cost of a pair of flip flops so I don’t have to walk barefoot between my work’s changing and shower rooms

  • The costs for my intimate waxing

  • I bought a second hand car to get me from home to work so I didn’t have to walk

  • I purchased my own flat, so I need to claim back the money I spent on the furniture.

There is now only one week left to submit your 2014-15 online tax return, and pay what you owe, to HMRC to avoid a £100 late return penalty.

A woman wearing a pair of flip-flops in Mainz, Germany Credit: Fredrik von Erichsen / DPA/Press Association Images

This is a breakdown of the estimated number of Self Assessment customers in the East Midlands:

Estimated number of Self Assessment customers in the East Midlands Credit: HM Revenue & Customs