Tax, HBOS, Mastercard and debt

It’s the self assessment tax deadline today and, as with previous years, one in ten taxpayers are expected to file late and incur a penalty of £100. Now The Times reports that middle-class taxpayers have been issued with a record number of fines for errors on their returns. According to the newspaper, last year HM Revenue & Customs imposed 143,000 penalties on those who filed inaccurate information ‘because it deemed them not to have taken “reasonable care” — nearly three times the 55,000 fines levied in 2012’. But it seems that these mistakes are minor. Accountants said the penalties were incurred for, among other things, forgetting to declare the interest on an old savings account or omitting a health insurance policy or gym membership received through work. HBOS The BBC reports that six people, including two former HBOS bankers, have been found guilty of bribery and fraud that includes fraudulent loans totalling £245 million. The action by the financiers came at a high price for the bank’s business customers and shareholders.