Missives from the taxman you can safely ignore

It's that time of year again. Many readers will be sighing with relief that they hit the self-assessment deadline for filing an online return on 31 January. Others will be cursing the fact they missed it and now face fines and other charges.

But whichever group you fall into, watch out for the tax fraudsters, warns The Daily Telegraph's Jessica Winch. Around this time, convincing-looking emails containing a link to a "clone of HMRC's website" are sent out, usually asking for your card and bank details, date of birth, national insurance number and, perhaps, your mother's maiden name.

The email claims you have overpaid tax and are due a rebate. Should you be unwise enough to give these details, they are then sold on to be duly misused.

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Sadly, these emails are getting ever-more convincing, so what can you do to avoid becoming a target? The answer is surprisingly simple: ignore the email.

HMRC never emails about tax matters such as refunds (or other important issues, such as changes in your tax code). As Gareth Lloyd, their head of digital security, confirms: "We only ever contact customers who are genuinely due tax back in writing, by post." You can also help out other potential victims by forwarding the email to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk.

On a more positive note, it's Isa (individual savings account) season again. You have until 5 April to use this year's allowance that's £11,280, up to half of which can be in cash, with the rest in stocks and shares. Isas allow you to shelter your cash from the taxman indefinitely (provided you don't try and take your money out). Yet many of us still don't use them.

The challenge this year is finding a half-decent interest rate many of our banks seem to be engaged in a race to the bottom as the government floods them with cheap cash from its Funding for Lending scheme.

But don't forget that, when interest rates pick up, you'll still get the benefit of full income-tax protection on any interest earned. For stocks and shares investors there's the added benefit of capital gains tax protection too.

So our advice is to start hunting around for the best deals now, even if you wait a few more weeks to make your application to see whether the banks improve on them as the deadline approaches. Our Isa guide, due out with the next issue of MoneyWeek, should help you make the right choice.