I may be getting older, slower and greyer but there is at least one thing I am getting better at, and that is filing my self-assessment tax return. Three years ago I wrote a blog proclaiming my new resolution was to file my tax return sooner than 7 days before the deadline! I am proud to say that each year I’ve got gradually (and I mean very gradually) better. This year I completed it a whole 23 days early!

Having completed my tax return myself for more years than I can remember, I consider myself reasonably knowledgeable. Before you start to worry, I’m not a financial or tax advisor, just a marketing bod, swimming teacher, proof reader and mum of two, so tax knowledge is not something I’d put on my CV!

However, despite this ‘wealth’ of experience I did nearly stumble into the murky world of copycat tax websites. I did a search for ‘tax return filing’ and up popped a list of sites. I clicked on the first entry called taxreturngateway.com, as I know I file through the government gateway. As the page opened it looked pretty familiar, at least all the colours looked like what I’d seen before and having selected the ‘file’ option it started to ask for my ‘UTR’.

It was at this point that I stopped and thought ‘ Hang on….this is not the HMRC site’. I did another search including ‘HMRC’ and again the same site came up first but the second option was the official site.

Now these websites are not breaking the law, but they do charge you to do something that is free if you go through the official HMRC route. They do have warning text saying they are not connected or affiliated to HMRC but they craftily are built to look very similar to the HMRC site and as a result it does mean that some people believe they are on the official ‘free’ site.

They also profess to offer additional add on services, but without real knowledge of your personal circumstances, there is little validity in that. They also offer instant submission, whereas to submit via the HMRC online service you need an activation code which gets sent out in the post. Some people may wrongly believe that they have already left it too late to get an activation code, however HMRC have confirmed that as long as people register by the 21st January they will get their code in time to submit before the deadline.

These copycat sites are not just restricted to the world of tax and HMRC. You only need to search for other government services, like passport applications, birth and death certificates, driving licences or even the congestion charge and you will stumble across a host of similarly operating businesses ready to take money off you for providing a service that is free if you go to the official site.

So what lessons can we learn from this. Firstly, if it’s a government service you are looking for, make www.gov.uk your starting point. You can navigate to what you need from there. Secondly, always read the small print whether its on a website, or on a form, or document. And finally plan ahead, so you are not up against a pressurised deadline as that’s when we fall into the trap of rushing into things without checking.

Approximately 10 million people are due to file returns by 31st January 2014, and with less than a week to go 2.5 million had not done so. That’s a lot of people putting themselves under pressure and a lot of potential business for the copycat websites!