This week sees the start of HMRC's drive to recruit around 120 graduates to join as tax trainees, with the launch of an advertising campaign and visits to more than 30 university fairs across the country.

Last year nearly 16,000 applicants applied for 200 places on the specially-designed four-year Tax Professional Development Programme. HMRC says this is designed to offer recruits the opportunity to gain skills across all of its activities such as investigating tax fraud, unravelling complex tax avoidance schemes, and looking at the tax affairs of big businesses, as well as gaining general business skills.

Edward Troup, tax assurance commissioner and second permanent secretary at HMRC, said: 'One day you could be working on criminal investigations or statistical forecasting, the next you might be challenging an avoidance scheme from a blue chip company.'

Applications close on 29 November, and graduates can find out about the Tax Professional Development Programme at gov.uk/hmrc/graduates and at HMRC's Tax Professional Graduate Facebook page at facebook.com/HmrcGraduates.