UK Uncut is due in the High Court this Thursday after initiating a judicial review proceedings against Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs over shady deals with Goldman Sachs that let the company off with £10 million in unpaid penalties.
UKUC aims to get HMRC to reclaim millions of pounds in unpaid tax from Goldman Sachs. Tim Street from UK Uncut Legal Action told the BBC this morning that it was in the public interest and that judicial review is the only way open to recoup the tax.
David Hartnett, Permanent Secretary for Tax from 2008, was recently targeted by UKUC as a major player in the tax scandal. Hartnett subsequently announced he will retire next summer after news emerged that he was “wined and dined” at least 107 times by companies, tax lawyers and advisers, and oversaw an unpaid tax bill to the public purse amounting to an estimated £25 billion.
The Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP, Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts, today said: “We have serious concerns that large companies are treated more favourably by the Department than other taxpayers.” Hodge issued a full statement that is available at http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/public-accounts-committee/news/hmrc-tax-disputes-report/.
Ironically, planned government cutbacks at HMRC won’t help the matter. Tim Street claimed the tax agency’s ability to investigate tax avoidance in future could diminish as, he said, “HMRC is going to have a decrease in the numbers of employees and money they receive.”
Timing of UKUC’s legal action is particularly interesting given Goldman Sachs has successfully placed its own people in departments of nearly every government – particularly those in Eurozone countries reportedly unhappy with the UK vetoing the EU crisis deal. But that’s another story, yet to unfold.
Here is HMRC’s full response, issued today:
UKUC aims to get HMRC to reclaim millions of pounds in unpaid tax from Goldman Sachs. Tim Street from UK Uncut Legal Action told the BBC this morning that it was in the public interest and that judicial review is the only way open to recoup the tax.David Hartnett, Permanent Secretary for Tax from 2008, was recently targeted by UKUC as a major player in the tax scandal. Hartnett subsequently announced he will retire next summer after news emerged that he was “wined and dined” at least 107 times by companies, tax lawyers and advisers, and oversaw an unpaid tax bill to the public purse amounting to an estimated £25 billion.
The Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP, Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts, today said: “We have serious concerns that large companies are treated more favourably by the Department than other taxpayers.” Hodge issued a full statement that is available at http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/public-accounts-committee/news/hmrc-tax-disputes-report/.
Ironically, planned government cutbacks at HMRC won’t help the matter. Tim Street claimed the tax agency’s ability to investigate tax avoidance in future could diminish as, he said, “HMRC is going to have a decrease in the numbers of employees and money they receive.”
Timing of UKUC’s legal action is particularly interesting given Goldman Sachs has successfully placed its own people in departments of nearly every government – particularly those in Eurozone countries reportedly unhappy with the UK vetoing the EU crisis deal. But that’s another story, yet to unfold.
Here is HMRC’s full response, issued today:
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has today responded to the report of the Public Accounts Committee into tax disputes. An HMRC spokesman said:
“HM Revenue & Customs rejects the conclusion of the Public Accounts Committee that there are systemic failures in the management of tax disputes. The report is based on partial information, inaccurate opinion and some misunderstanding of facts.
HMRC’s internal processes are robust and this was confirmed by a recent review by the National Audit Office of large business settlements. We agree that public confidence in our processes is important, and as we have already informed the Public Accounts Committee we propose to make further improvements to our governance and to increase transparency about our work with large business. We also welcome the further review that the National Audit Office is to carry out as an opportunity to confirm this and clear up the concerns about foregone millions.” Source/response
HMRC’s internal processes are robust and this was confirmed by a recent review by the National Audit Office of large business settlements. We agree that public confidence in our processes is important, and as we have already informed the Public Accounts Committee we propose to make further improvements to our governance and to increase transparency about our work with large business. We also welcome the further review that the National Audit Office is to carry out as an opportunity to confirm this and clear up the concerns about foregone millions.” Source/response