A statement on HMRC’s website said: “To make sure our customers are not disadvantaged if they cannot get through to HMRC’s call centres on 31 January, we will not impose any late filing penalties for people who file their Self Assessment returns on 1 and 2 February.”

HMRC’s Stephen Banyard added: ““We’ve always been very clear that we want the returns – not the penalties. For that reason, we don’t want anyone who can’t get through for help and advice on 31 January to be disadvantaged in any way”

Hodge told Ricky that the conclusion is “The evidence of the Department’s senior officials fails to give us any confidence in the way large settlements are reached.”

She also pointed out that a lively debate has begun over how HMRC handles its business and expressed her thanks for Ricky’s contribution. Ricky’s concerns have now been circulated by her to all members of the Committee so that they can consider his evidence.

An HMRC statement said it will “examine whether the current approach is the best way of achieving the policy objectives, and identify what changes are needed to ensure that the objectives are achieved.”

However, the same amounts of visits are planned as before the review was announced.

Abbey Tax policy advisor Guy Smith said: “HMRC seems to be playing a game of smoke and mirrors. On one hand it is saying it is listening and limiting the number of BRCs to ease the burden on SMEs, but on the other hand its national BRC unit in Coleraine is carrying on as normal.”

The Public Accounts Committee aired “serious concerns” about how some large settlements had been concluded.

Around £25 billion of tax from large companies is outstanding, the MPs believe. They also want HMRC to be more transparent with its dealings with big business.

This follows a high profile case when Goldman Sachs underpaid tax on bonus payments of £20 million. It has also been suggested that Vodafone paid nearly £5 billion less than it should have done.

The chair of the Committee Margaret Hodge MP said: “Big companies have very expensive advisors, consultants and lawyers. HMRC, on their own admittance, has very few people who have deep knowledge of tax affairs.

She added: It’s imperative everyone is treated equally in front of the law.”

However, HMRC have hit back, saying the MPs misunderstood the facts.

A spokesman said: “The report is based on partial, inaccurate opinion and some misunderstanding of the facts.”

George Osborne and Vince Cable will push ahead with the plans to separate high street lenders from “casino” investment banking.

Cable, speaking of a “big structural reform” said: he government is going to launch this initiative on the banks, accepting in full the Vickers commission,” We’re going to proceed with the separation of the banks – the casinos and the retail, business lending parts of the banks … Moreover we’re going to get on with it. Both the primary and secondary legislation is going to be completed within this parliament. It’s got to be done. We can’t have a position where the big banks are too big to fail.”

Although the proposals do not go as far as a full scale split between investment banks and high street banks, there will now be ring fencing, forcing banks to place high street banking in a separate legal subsidiary. The intention is that this will prevent any taxpayer bailout of banks from happening again.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that the consumer prices index fell to 4.8 percent in November, down from 5 percent in October.

The ONS said that the biggest contributor to the fall was down to food prices. Strong harvests eased the price of breads, cereals, potatoes and onions, whilst there were record falls in the prices of sugar, jam and confectionary products.

A fall in petrol prices of 1p a litre also contributed to the fall.

Inflation will continue to fall over coming months, predict the Bank of England, perhaps falling to around 1.5 percent by the middle of next year.

However, economists are warning that the still relatively high inflation would continue to squeeze low and middle earning households in the face of slow pay growth and worries over future employment.

Chief economist at Markit said: With consumer spending accounting for around two-thirds of all spending in the UK economy, this will act as a substantial dampener on economic growth, and the combination of weak consumer spending with public sector spending cuts and falling demand for UK exports means there is a strong chance of the UK dipping back into recession as we move into 2012.”

The BRC said that mild weather had hit winter clothing sales whilst shoppers were reluctant to make big purchases.

Director general Stephen Robertson said the figures indicated a “worrying lack of cheer” and claimed that when shoppers were making purchases that they were mainly buying discounted and promotional items.

Retailers will be hope that this December will see more encouraging levels of sales, with families still wanting to treat themselves during the festive. Last year, high street spending was severely disrupted due to severe weather conditions.

If conditions are more clement this year, then most analysts predict better Christmas sales than in 2010.

Food sales figures indicate that more people are choosing to stay in than dine out to eat, as premium readymade meals performed well.

KPMG’s head of retail , Helen Dickinson said: “The latest figures prove once more that the health of UK retailing is deteriorating.
“Christmas is a crucial trading period for the UK retail sector but this year many retailers will be nervous and unsure as to how the season will pan out.”

A report has found that £96 million was spent on skills training in 2010/11 but very little of that was spent on top level priorities. The report also claimed that HMRC does not have all the skills needed to meet their own objectives.
Head of NAO Amyas Morse said “At the level of the business as a whole, HMRC has no strategy to manage the £96m it spends each year on skills. Although the department is doing much to make sure it has the skills it requires, it needs a more systematic approach, where spending on skills is linked explicitly to the organisation’s overall business objectives and a vision of how it should look in the future.”
The report also found though that HMRC’s investment had contributed to the recent improvements in the collection of tax.

The crisis in the eurozone is the biggest threat to the UK’s banking system, the Bank’s Financial Policy Committee (FPC) said.

Sir Mervyn stated that the Bank of England itself was drawing up “contingency plans” at the prospect of eurozone breakup. He did not detail what these plans are however.

He said: “There are many ways in which the future could play out. Maybe the Eurozone wont break up, maybe it will continue in various forms, but maybe there will still be questions of default.

On Wednesday six central banks, including the Bank of England agreed to encourage more lending in a bid to keep the global economy moving.

Sir Mervyn added that the UK’s banks were among the strongest in the world and that banks should keep lending, whilst cutting back on dividends and bonuses.