You've wolfed your seasonal fodder, watched Jamie Oliver's alternative Christmas speech and got drunk on cava cocktails and almond and cream-based liqueurs. If only there was something great to do with the rest of your day, writes Susan Smillie.
But hang on a turkey-gobbling minute - there is. Excitingly, you can file your tax return. Online. Can anyone tell me what better fun there is to be had on the biggest telly-watching holiday of the year? According to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, as the tax office was renamed a few months ago (quite what was wrong with "tax office" I can't imagine) 306 self-assessment tax returns were filed online last Christmas Day, and more than 12,000 across the four day festive period.
Why? Who are these people?
Of course, lots of us, for many reasons, don't celebrate Christmas. I'm not crazy for it myself, but self-assessment is surely taking non-celebration to horrible new extremes.
Not according to the people at the tax office, who love this scary behaviour. "We have always recommended that people file early and outside the busiest periods, and we are pleased to see that some taxpayers have taken this to heart - even at Christmas," Roy Massingale says.
Yeah, well, as Her Majesty's self-assessment director, he would, wouldn't he? You can bet your tax-free personal allowance, though, that he won't be there to receive the forms, unlike the unlucky folk on the helpdesk, who will take your calls (on 0845 900 0444 if you're interested) right up to 4pm on Christmas and New Year's Eve. Isn't it heart warming indeed, to know the people at the tax office are ready, willing and able to pore over our finances and extract our hard-earned dosh, right up to the last minute?
