In the legal case against HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) over the ‘sweetheart’ tax deal with Goldman Sachs, details have emerged of a controversial cover up to avoid political embarrassment at the heart of government.
It came to light in the High Court that the former tax chief, Dave Hartnett, chose to waive the £20 million that Goldman Sachs owed to HMRC to save his personal reputation, and avoid major political embarrassment for George Osborne and HMRC. The political scandal has been revealed by UK Uncut Legal Action, the anti-cuts campaigners who have brought the case against HMRC. Continue reading
UK Uncut has been granted leave to challenge the so-called “sweetheart” deal between HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Goldman Sachs, which saved the bank up to £20m. UKUncuts’s case will now go to a full judicial review where its lawyers will argue that HMRC failed to carry out its legal duty to renegotiate a deal with the bank after it emerged the government had a mistake in the original talks by not including interest payments. Lawyers for UK Uncut asked the judge to grant permission to seek a declaration that the agreement was unlawful. They want £20 million to be returned to the public purse. HMRC argued that a judicial review could not be brought without endangering tax-payer confidentiality which it claimed was of “paramount importance”. 