A shed dwelling rodent with an appetite for gobbling up tasty tax return papers was pinned with the blame for late delivery of documents to HMRC.

When it came to the most creative excuses used in unsuccessful appeals against HMRC penalties for late returns last year, animals continued to be made the scapegoat, as a rat came top of the 2015 list.

This followed last year’s revelations that young fox cubs and a flock of parrots had been put forward as a legitimate reason by one tardy taxpayer who failed to be timely with the taxman.

The tried and trusted cliché that the dog had eaten the papers was also wheeled out again, while family members, squabbles and broken technology were also offered as reasons for failing to meet the deadline.

Ruth Owen, HMRC director general of personal tax, said: “Untidy family members and hungry pets are very unlikely to be accepted as a legitimate excuse for completing your tax return late.

“We’re here to help people in genuine distress, but not to act as a free lender to people who can’t meet their responsibilities to pay their tax.”

The top 10 excuses were:

1. My tax papers were left in the shed and the rat ate them
2. I’m not a paperwork-orientated person – I always relied on my sister to complete my returns but we have now fallen out
3. My accountant has been ill
4. My dog ate my tax return
5. I will be abroad on deadline day with no internet access so will be unable to file
6. My laptop broke, so did my washing machine
7. My niece had moved in – she made the house so untidy I could not find my log-in details to complete my return online
8. My husband ran over my laptop
9. I had an argument with my wife and went to Italy for 5 years
10. I had a cold which took a long time to go

The deadline for sending 2014-15 tax returns to HMRC, and paying any tax owed, is 31 January 2016.