To paraphrase one of TS' favourite publications, ' People with tax issues! Don't expect any help on a Friday!'

It seems that the great and the good of the tax world have all descended on some place called Manchester (must be somewhere outside London Underground Zone1) for a high powered summit staged by the CIoT today, so any urgent tax problems will have to hold for Monday.

TS humbly suggests that the first issue up for debate should have been: 'Case Study: How best to leave your clients without a leg to stand on for a whole day while schmoozing up North'.

There's also a whisper that the tax titans fled up the M6 to avoid coming into the Accountancy Age studios for an in-depth natter about Paul Gray's appointment as HMRC's head honcho – TS thought they were more scared of Dave Hartnett than Paul, but there you go.