You might think HMRC would be keeping a low profile, considering the amount of media attention they attracted for a series of blunders throughout 2011.

Not only did half a million people have two months longer than everyone else to make their second tax return payment – due to the laughable fact that the Revenue ran out of paper – HMRC could not fail to conceal that the tax gap was a staggering £35bn and that over 6m people were out of pocket, having paid too much on their tax return. All good reasons to avoid further scandal.

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