Taxpayers are being urged not to respond to a series of new tax rebate 'phishing' emails being sent by fraudsters, ahead of the 31 January Self Assessment Tax Return deadline.

The emails inform the recipient that they are due a tax rebate, and provide a link to a cloned version of the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) website. Here the taxpayer is asked to provide credit card or bank details, which are then used to extract money from the victim's account.

HMRC is reiterating the fact that it will only ever inform taxpayers of a tax refund by post, and that legitimate tax rebate forms (P800s) will contain a payment order, rather than requesting credit or debit card details.

Individuals who receive such an email purporting to be from HMRC are advised to forward it to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk before deleting it from their systems.

Meanwhile, taxpayers are reminded that any 2010/11 tax returns submitted after the 31 January deadline will be subject to an automatic £100 penalty, whether or not any tax is owed. A series of further penalties will apply to Returns which remain unfiled after this date.

E advice@hwfisher.co.uk