● THE January 31 tax deadline for online self-assessment looms, and self-employed taxpayers could face fines of more than £442m for late or wrongly completed self-assessment forms.

These figures, from professional advice website unbiased.co.uk, say £116m in penalties were levied last year on those who failed to file by January, while £310m was levied in charges over miscalculations on tax forms, and £16m worth of surcharges were imposed for unpaid tax from previous years.

● Barclaycard’s decision to increase the length of its 0 per cent balance transfer deal to 17 months makes it the best offer of this type, says Michelle Slade at Moneyfacts.co.uk. It should help many overspent cardholders facing an average rate on card balances of 18.8 per cent. Hot competition between card providers has seen a surge of them offering balance transfer deals of 0 per centfor more than 12 months, but only applicants with “exemplary credit files” are accepted by many providers.

● Savers seeking a decent return might be tempted by the three-year Yorkshire BS bond promising a four per cent fix until early 2014. It is offered across all the Yorkshire brands.

● Savers brave enough to back small businesses via Funding Circle get nearly £190 more interest on £2,500 in one year than they could expect from a building society account.