HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officials are targeting some 6,000 UK-based Swiss bank account holders in a clampdown on customers who may have failed to report all their income and gains.

Top official admits error but denies lying to MPs after bankers avoided multimillion pound bill

Experts insist many of us are paying far too much tax – as much as £148bn too much – but Rob Griffin lets us in on some of the legal, straightforward ways to keep more cash in your pocket

Stricter penalties have come into force for those submitting self-assessment tax return forms late.

Russia violated the rights of the now-defunct oil behemoth Yukos, the European Court of Human Rights ruled yesterday. But the court rejected a contention that the prosecution of Yukos was politically motivated and deferred any ruling on nearly $100bn (£63bn) in damages.

Companies and entrepreneurs could quit Britain unless the 50p top rate of income tax is abolished, David Laws, the Liberal Democrat former cabinet minister, warned yesterday.

The tax system is "inefficient, overly complex and frequently unfair", according to a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank. The report also warned that it is "not clear" whether the 50p tax rate on incomes over £150,000, introduced by the previous Labour government, will raise any revenue at all.

Panama and the British Virgin Islands will be the Chancellor George Osborne's next targets as he extends his crackdown on tax havens used by rich Britons to salt their assets away.

George Osborne has confirmed he wants to scrap the 50p top rate of tax because it is not raising significant amounts of money for the Treasury.

Considerable dissatisfaction exists among the public and tax professionals with the service provided by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to taxpayers and benefit claimants, a group of MPs has warned.

A clampdown on tax dodgers was launched today as traders who have failed to register to pay VAT were given a chance to come forward.

First it was plumbers, doctors and restaurateurs, now it's eBay traders.

Allowances are set to change, bringing to an end a way of offsetting costs against properties that are let to tourists. Chiara Cavaglieri reports

Virgin Media has secured an £81.5m refund from the taxman after drawn out negotiations over its Value Added Tax payments.

HM Revenue & Customs launched 9,368 investigations into inheritance tax valuations last year and is targeting estates and beneficiaries, warns UHY Hacker Young, the national accountancy firm.