Other tax records have gone missing

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has revealed that it has suffered six security lapses over the past two years on top of the recent loss of child benefit data. On each occasion, personal details of customers were lost.

The acting head of HMRC, Dave Harnett, made the admission while being questioned by the parliamentary Treasury Select Committee last week. Following the revelation, Michael Fallon, chairman of the committee, asked if this indicated a "systemic failure" within HMRC. In response, Mr Harnett said, "it may well do."

Meanwhile, HMRC has revealed that a partial amnesty for people evading tax through having money in offshore bank accounts has brought in 400m. Some 64,000 people registered for the scheme, which gave them until 26 November to pay any outstanding tax plus interest.