Self-assessors buck rising tax trend

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January was a record month for tax collection. The Treasury was coining it in, with huge increases in VAT, capital gains tax and corporation tax. It means it actually managed a surplus for the month, which is a very rare phenomenon nowadays.

However, in among the tax news was the fact that receipts from self-assessment have actually fallen over the year? So why is this, and does self-assessment hold the secret to paying less tax?