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Trending - HMRC, Stellar Diamonds, Rothschild, Strategic Min's...

Published: 12:09 31 May 2016 BST

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It's not like Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs to make it harder for you to settle your tax bill.

But it seems that's exactly what's happened as tens of millions have not been paid in to state coffers from businesses, because bungling HMRC failed to tell them it had changed its bank details.

Reportedly, large payments from a number of businesses have bounced and remain uncollected and firms are still none the wiser as to how to pay up.  

The news appears to make a mockery of the organisation's claims it is tightening its grip on unpaid taxes and was one of the biggest trending story on Tuesday, and could well snowball.

Also big on the net today was, as usual, the Brexit story, with just 23 days to go to the vote.

Putting the world to rights has long been the preserve of those with a penchant for pulling up a bar stool, but chief of pub group JD Wetherspoon Tim Martin has decided to help the juices flow (and advance his own personal standpoint) by issuing 200,000 beer mats urging  drinkers and voters to leave the EU.

The bright red mats will go to 920 pubs across the land, but what reaction and argument, or event vote outcome, they trigger remains to be seen.

In corporate news, Alliance Trust PLC (LON:ATST) saw shares gain over 3.3% to 525p as RIT Capital Partners plc (LON:RCP) , which is part-owned by the Rothschild family made a takeover approach.

RIT is chaired by Lord Rothschild, the fourth baron of the Rothschild family, which owns 21%.  There are no provided terms of any proposal.

Anyone familiar with returning goods online will be interested in the item today about new research concerning women shoppers, which suggests the phenomenum has pushed up the price of clothes out on the High Street.

There has been a recent surge of these so -called serial returners. They reportedly buy loads of stuff in all different sized and then send most back the minute it arrives. Two thirds of women questioned admitted to sending back unwanted items in the last six months.

In small caps, Strategic Minerals PLC  (LON:SML), which has been on a tear in recent months, surged almost 50% as it revealed the first drill hole, HC001, at its Hanns Camp project in Australia, hit nickel sulphides.

Stellar Diamonds PLC (LON:STEL) was another good riser, as it hailed positive progress on its bid for a mining licence at its Tongo project in Sierra Leone.

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