As we approach the important deadline for the submission of tax returns on 31st January, I've been reminded of one of the greatest public service advertising campaigns of all time. Who can forget Hector the Taxman, reminding us that tax doesn't need to be taxing. It's one of the those advertising slogans that is seared into public consciousness, years after the campaign has finished.

Something else in the news has brought memories of Hector flooding back. And here is the man himself, complete with magnifying glass, carrying out his investigations like a financial Sherlock Holmes, but with a bowler hat rather than a deer stalker.

The question is whether he is carrying out his investigations on behalf of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, or into the Chancellor of the Exchequer, or both?