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The end of January - the deadline for getting your self-assessment tax return in by - is looming.

Something like half a million people will leave it until the last day to get it in, with some top excuses to HMRC being:

1. My pet dog ate my tax return... and all the reminders.

2. I was up a mountain in Wales and could not find a postbox or get an internet signal.

3. I have been travelling the world, trying to escape from a foreign intelligence agency.

Seven per cent of people missed it completely last year. So we asked Ruth Owen, director general of personal tax at HMRC, to share her tips for getting it right.

This clip is originally from Wake up to Money on Friday January 30 2014