CASHPOINTS: Stay on top of tax

A useful 20-page guide, No more tax problems: a guide to good tax housekeeping under self-assessment and how to reduce your tax bills, is available free from advisers the Tax Team on 0800 393520.

Credit cards that offer special introductory interest rates for up to a year can be a good deal, particularly for people who switch their debts at the end of the discount period. This month's Which? magazine notes that you aren't penalised for closing your account at the end of this period with cards from Capital One Visa, RBS Advanta Visa and Royal Bank of Scotland.

Only a small minority of travel agents still require holidaymakers to buy a particular insurance policy as a condition of getting a holiday discount, according to a survey by Columbus Travel Insurance. While agents used to be heavily criticised for this conditional selling, the research also found that many still know little about the cover of the insurance they offer and do not highlight specific policy exclusions.

Corporate bond PEPs are a way of getting a higher tax-free income than is available from the building society, but they also mean higher risks. NatWest bank has a free six-page guide to these PEPs. Phone 0800 922229.

Meribel in France is the worst ski resort for plastic card crime, followed by St Anton in Austria, according to Card Protection Plan. CPP offers an pounds 8-a-year service that allows you to report lost cards in a single call, rather than having to telephone each card issuer. Ring 0800 330000.

Fewer than 1 per cent of us put the maximum permissible amount into our personal pension, according to research for Flemings, which has a free guide explaining the tax breaks. Phone 0500 500161.