Under-pressure Conservative co-chairman Baroness Warsi today referred herself to the Lords Commissioner for Standards amid allegations over her expenses.

Conservative co-chairman Baroness Warsi is facing calls for an investigation into her expenses over allegations that she claimed for overnight accommodation when staying at a friend's house rent-free.

Job cuts among revenue officials meant £1.1 billion less unpaid tax was recouped than could have been, a public spending watchdog said.

About 1.6 million people will start receiving demands within the next two weeks for an average £537 shortfall in the tax they paid last year, HM Revenue and Customs warned yesterday.

Up to 3.5 million people are set to receive a tax refund from next week, but as many as 1.6 million face a bill for underpaid tax, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said today.

A "dangerous" fuel production plant capable of producing over 240,000 litres of illicit fuel a year has been raided and shut down.

Tax officials have wrongly warned nearly 12,000 people that they face £10 daily fines for not filling in their tax returns, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) admitted yesterday.

Tax officials have launched an investigation into whether the online retail giant Amazon has avoided tax by officially allocating its UK sales to a company based in Luxembourg.

A yacht broker who charged £210,000 VAT on the sale of six luxury motor boats but then failed to pay the money to the taxman has been jailed for three years.

The number of mortgage approvals for house purchase has reached a two-year high as borrowers rush to take advantage of a stamp duty holiday before it ends, a high street banking report has said.

Home sales have had their strongest start to the year since January 2008, official figures showed today.

Tax deadline reminders from the former television newsreader, Moira Stewart, whose own financial affairs have attracted media interest, were so effective that the taxman raked in £55m less in late fines this year than last, HMRC admitted yesterday.

Her familiar, calm tones have become the voice of HM Revenue & Customs, reminding taxpayers to get their self-assessment forms in on time and insisting that "tax doesn't have to be taxing". But Moira Stuart has now been asked questions about her own accounts.

Portsmouth have entered administration for the second time in three seasons.