It's coming to something when even the BBC confuses tax avoidance and tax evasion.

The corporation's website news report of a taxpayer convicted for five years begins, 'A man found guilty of avoiding tax and national insurance contributions totalling more than £600,000...'.

He was guilty of evading tax, not avoiding it. It is legal to avoid tax, even if it sometimes leaves a nasty taste in your mouth, or if it is found by the courts not to work.

You don't go to prison for avoiding tax.

All I can say is: HMRC, your work is done. You have successfully managed to so blur the distinction between tax evasion and tax avoidance that even the normally trusted Auntie Beeb has got it wrong.

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